1
What's the one class at DESOTO CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,388
Middle
DISTRICT 1,018 · STATE 452
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DESOTO COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280132000979
DeSoto Central Middle School
2611 Central Parkway, Southaven, MS 38672 · (662) 349-6660 · DeSoto County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,388 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 77% of Mississippi public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Mississippi public middle schools
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
79 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
581 students
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 80%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 475 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 464 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 449 | 32% |
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
55.0%
MS avg 45.9% . -2.8pp since 2023
Math
73.4%
MS avg 52.8% . -4.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 73 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Mississippi schools, those numbers are about 46 and 53. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 55.0% | 73.4% |
| 2023-24 | 57.8% | 77.4% |
% Proficient + Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: MAAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
68.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.4%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 68% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 73% typical for Mississippi schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Mississippi's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like DeSoto Central Middle School
DeSoto Central Middle School's state test result (68.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeSoto Central Middle School this school | 1,388 | 41.9% | 68.1% |
| Northwest Middle School Flowood | 1,352 | 38.2% | 63.9% |
| Center Hill Middle School Olive Branch | 757 | 46.6% | 65.8% |
| Clinton Junior High School Clinton | 862 | 44.4% | 73.7% |
| Oxford Middle School Oxford | 667 | 48.3% | 61.8% |
| Germantown Middle Madison | 1,008 | 28.6% | 70.8% |
Matched among Mississippi middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where DeSoto Central Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi | In DeSoto County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 68.1% | #23 of 176 | #3 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 73.4% | #16 of 181 ▼ 4 | #3 of 8 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #34 of 181 ▼ 11 | #3 of 8 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,388 | #2 of 186 | #2 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.6:1 | #153 of 163 | #8 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.8% | #14 of 164 | #1 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 41.9% | #173 of 184 | #6 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.0% | #29 of 34 | N/A |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,388
-31 (-2%) vs 2020
+22% since 2000-01, when it was 1,138
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 17.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,388 | 79.1 | 17.6:1 | 42% (581) |
| 2023-24 | 1,407 | 80.2 | 17.6:1 | 37% (523) |
| 2022-23 | 1,468 | 77.1 | 19.0:1 | 100% (1,465) |
| 2020-21 | 1,419 | 81 | 17.5:1 | 100% (1,416) |
| 2017-18 | 1,347 | 76.3 | 17.6:1 | 33% (443) |
| 2015-16 | 1,244 | 67 | 18.6:1 | 30% (371) |
| 2010-11 | 1,178 | 63 | 18.7:1 | 23% (271) |
| 2000-01 | 1,138 | 52 | 21.9:1 | 28% (319) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for DeSoto Central Middle School.
About DeSoto Central Middle School
Families in Southaven, Mississippi, are served by DeSoto Central Middle School, a large middle-grades school. Its enrollment is 1,388 students, spread over grades 6 through 8. Middle schools in Mississippi average about 452 students, which makes this school 207% bigger than average.
The 39 schools of DeSoto County School District, including DeSoto Central Middle School, enroll 34,934 students.
Black students account for 48% of enrollment at DeSoto Central Middle School, more than any other group. The remaining students are 31% White, 9% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, and 4% Asian. Among people living in DeSoto County, the Black share is about 33%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, DeSoto Central Middle School scores 66%.
The school's 79.1 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.6:1. Statewide, middle schools in Mississippi average 13.7:1. Income data for the school show 42% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, DeSoto Central Middle School lands at A-, ahead of 77% of Mississippi public middle schools.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 68.1%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 73.4%.
Looking at the county, DeSoto County, the median household earns about $85,297 a year, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting DeSoto Central Middle School, DeSoto County has 43 public schools.
About 0.2 miles separate DeSoto Central Middle School from the closest public school, DeSoto Central Elementary. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. DeSoto Central Middle School is 3rd of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
DeSoto Central Middle School had 1,419 students in 2020-21 and 1,388 in 2024-25, nearly the same.
DeSoto Central Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. You can also rate the school on this page.
DeSoto County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
191,301
Census ACS
Median income
$85,297
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
43
34,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DeSoto County School District
- DeSoto Central High SchoolHigh · 2,004 students
- Southaven High SchoolHigh · 1,876 students
- Hernando High SchoolHigh · 1,529 students
- Southaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,423 students
- Lewisburg High SchoolHigh · 1,330 students
- Horn Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,271 students
Other schools in Southaven
- DeSoto Central High SchoolHigh · 2,004 students
- Southaven High SchoolHigh · 1,876 students
- Southaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,423 students
- Southaven Intermediate SchoolElementary · 1,046 students
- DeSoto Central ElementaryElementary · 831 students
- DeSoto Central Primary SchoolElementary · 792 students
Nearby schools
- DeSoto Central Elementary0.2 mi · 831
- DeSoto Central High School0.3 mi · 2,004
- DeSoto Central Primary School2.4 mi · 792
- Greenbrook Elementary School3.3 mi · 556
- Southaven Intermediate School3.4 mi · 1,046
- Pleasant Hill Elementary School3.4 mi · 1,079
Frequently asked questions
About DeSoto Central Middle SchoolHow many students attend DeSoto Central Middle School?
DeSoto Central Middle School enrolls approximately 1,388 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does DeSoto Central Middle School serve?
DeSoto Central Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at DeSoto Central Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at DeSoto Central Middle School is approximately 17.6:1 (79 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at DeSoto Central Middle School?
Student demographics at DeSoto Central Middle School are roughly 31% White, 9% Hispanic, 48% Black, 4% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Is DeSoto Central Middle School public or private?
DeSoto Central Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by DeSoto County School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.