Taylorsville Attendance Center, Taylorsville MS

Original Research by School Decision on Taylorsville Attendance Center

Taylorsville Attendance Center is a single public school that carries students from pre-kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade, serving the town of Taylorsville in southeastern Smith County, Mississippi. It operates under the Smith County School District and is the primary educational option for families in this small community. A private Christian school run by the First Baptist Church covers early elementary grades as an alternative, but Taylorsville Attendance Center is the only local public pathway spanning the full grade range.

The school sits within or near the town rather than on a separated campus, which fits Taylorsville's compact layout. The town itself is car-dependent, with no public transit beyond school bus routes, and most residents drive alone to work. Its civic and commercial life runs along the Highway 28 corridor, and the community gathers for events like the annual Grillin' N Chillin' Barbecue Festival each November. Southern Pine Electric, a large electric cooperative headquartered in town, is a major employer, along with industries tied to lumber, manufacturing, and transportation. The town was founded as a railroad stop tied to the region's pine forests and retains that small-town character, with a Mississippi Main Street designation supporting downtown development efforts.

Taylorsville has faced real headwinds. A destructive tornado tore through the community in the spring of 2025, causing extensive damage that will likely shape near-term recovery and development. Population figures have fluctuated and some sources show a declining trend. Median household income declined between recent years, and the local housing market, while very affordable compared with state and national benchmarks, reflects the limited economic pressures of a rural Mississippi town. Home values sit well below the state figure and far below national levels, which may appeal to families prioritizing affordability but also reflects the broader economic context.

At Taylorsville Attendance Center, the student body is majority Black, with a substantial White minority and very small representation from other racial and ethnic groups. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which characterizes the school as serving a predominantly economically disadvantaged population. The school is modestly sized for a campus covering pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, with grade-level cohorts that are small enough that a few students can shift the proficiency picture from year to year.

On state assessments, math results are mixed across grade levels. Third grade stands out as the relative bright spot, with proficiency running near half of tested students. Performance dips in the upper elementary and middle grades, with seventh grade being the weakest point. The pattern suggests some early-grade strength that does not fully carry through the middle school transition. In English language arts, proficiency is generally lower than in math across nearly every grade. Third grade again leads, while the middle grades sit well below that level, with seventh grade being the lowest. Science results, available for fifth and eighth grades, fall in a middle range, above the ELA figures but below the stronger math results.

No high school state testing results, graduation rate, course access data, staffing figures, discipline information, or attendance rates were available in the data we reviewed. The absence of a graduation rate is a gap a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly given that the school serves through twelfth grade. Information on special populations, including students with individualized education programs and English learners, was also not available, which limits the picture of how the school supports students with additional needs. We looked for district-level strategic priorities or recent policy changes and found little, so we left that out rather than guess.

What the available data describes is a small, community-rooted school serving a rural town with limited economic resources, recovering from a natural disaster, and working with modest academic results that are strongest in the earliest grades and decline as students move toward high school. For a family considering Taylorsville, the appeal is likely the tight-knit community, housing affordability, and a single-campus pathway from pre-kindergarten through graduation. The open questions center on what the upper grades and high school experience look like in practice, how the school supports students performing below proficiency, and what recovery from the 2025 tornado means for the campus and the community in the years ahead.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

80-89%Cohort of 44 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

241 schools plotted. 29 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 56% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 49% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 44% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 54% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 717%

School 17% · District 59% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 57% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 53% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 44% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 40% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 41% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 33% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 44% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 63% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 57% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median

This schoolSMITH CO SCHOOL DIST, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.