The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Science. The lowest is 34% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Magee Elementary School
Magee Elementary School sits on Goodwater Road in the small city of Magee, a community strung along U.S. Highway 49 between Jackson and Hattiesburg. The town blends residential neighborhoods with a working industrial base. Publicly reported employers include Tyson Foods, Polk's Meat Products, Real Pure Beverage Group, and Howard Industry, and a large industrial park lines the highway. A revitalized Main Street anchors civic life, with annual events like Crazy Day and a Christmas Parade. The city has invested in new municipal buildings and a civic center in recent years, and a branch of Copiah-Lincoln Community College gives the community a postsecondary presence. A tornado struck the northern part of town at one point, destroying dozens of homes and damaging the water treatment plant, but the community has been rebuilding. Schools here are woven into the fabric of the city rather than set apart on distant campuses.
The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade and falls under the Simpson County School District. Its enrollment is moderate for an elementary school, with fairly even distribution across the grade levels. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial White minority and a smaller multiracial group. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which speaks to the economic realities of the surrounding community. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available.
On state assessments through the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, the most recent results paint a mixed picture. In math, proficiency varies considerably by grade. The middle tested grade performs strongest, with a sizeable share of students reaching proficient or above. The youngest tested grade sits well below that mark, and the oldest tested grade falls lower still, with only a small portion reaching proficiency. In English language arts, the pattern runs the opposite direction. Proficiency climbs steadily from third through fifth grade, with the oldest students showing the strongest results, matching the level of their math peers in the middle grade. Fifth grade science results match the fifth grade ELA performance. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is hard to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability. Participation rates were also not reported.
The strongest thread across these results is the upward ELA trajectory, with older students outperforming younger ones. The weakest is fifth grade math, where proficiency drops sharply from the fourth grade level. A parent may want to look into how math instruction is sequenced across the upper elementary grades and what interventions are in place for students who fall behind.
Housing in the Magee zip code is affordable by most standards. Typical home values sit well below the state benchmark and far below the national figure, and values have dipped slightly over the past year while the state and national markets have ticked upward. Estimated monthly mortgage costs are modest. No rental market data was available for this area. The price-to-income ratio suggests housing is within reach for local earners relative to national norms.
The broader district context carries one open question for families. The Simpson County School District proposed consolidating Magee High School and Mendenhall High School into a single Simpson County High School, but voters rejected the bond referendum that would have funded it. That leaves the consolidation plan and its financing unresolved, which may matter to families thinking about the full K-12 pathway even though it does not directly affect Magee Elementary.
No data was available on school programs, staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, or Title I status. The school's locale classification, magnet status, and school type were also not reported. IEP and English learner rates were missing. Without these pieces, it is hard to assess the full range of student supports or the resources behind the academic results. A family considering this school would benefit from asking the administration directly about intervention programs, staffing, and any specialized services.
What the data does show is a community-rooted elementary school in an affordable, industrially anchored small city, serving a high-poverty student population with uneven but in some areas improving academic results. The ELA growth across grades is a genuine bright spot. The math decline in the upper grade is the clearest area to probe further.
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