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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at LAUREL MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
388
Middle
DISTRICT 321 · STATE 452
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LAUREL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280246001345
Laurel Middle School
1600 Grandview Drive, Laurel, MS 39440 · (601) 428-5312 · Jones County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL388 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 13% of Mississippi public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats 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
16.6:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
388 students
DISTRICT 100% · 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 7 | 209 | 54% |
| Grade 8 | 177 | 46% |
| Ungraded | 2 | 1% |
Student demographics
34%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
School pathway
Based on grade levels within Laurel School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
24.0%
MS avg 45.9% . -3.3pp since 2023
Math
20.9%
MS avg 52.8% . -7.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 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 8 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 24.0% | 20.9% |
| 2023-24 | 27.3% | 28.5% |
% 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
30.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.1%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 31% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 Laurel Middle School
Laurel Middle School's state test result (30.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Middle School this school | 388 | 100.0% | 30.6% |
| Nichols Middle School Canton | 362 | 100.0% | 30.3% |
| Hazlehurst Middle School HAZLEHURST | 292 | 99.7% | 42.7% |
| Peeples Middle School Jackson | 541 | 100.0% | 11.7% |
| Magnolia Middle School MOSS POINT | 359 | 100.0% | 39.0% |
| N R Burger Middle HATTIESBURG | 525 | 100.0% | 50.2% |
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 Laurel Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 30.6% | #153 of 176 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.9% | #164 of 181 ▼ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 24.0% | #145 of 181 ▼ 16 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 388 | #87 of 186 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.6:1 | #142 of 163 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 34.1% | #110 of 164 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #30 of 184 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -37.7% | #17 of 119 |
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
388
-257 (-40%) vs 2020
-44% since 2010-11, when it was 693
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 388 | 23.3 | 16.6:1 | 100% (388) |
| 2023-24 | 380 | 25.1 | 15.1:1 | 100% (380) |
| 2022-23 | 555 | 35.7 | 15.5:1 | 100% (555) |
| 2020-21 | 645 | 44 | 14.7:1 | 100% (645) |
| 2017-18 | 623 | 33.7 | 18.5:1 | 100% (623) |
| 2015-16 | 644 | 44 | 14.6:1 | 100% (644) |
| 2010-11 | 693 | 45 | 15.4:1 | 91% (633) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Laurel Middle School.
About Laurel Middle School
Laurel Middle School is a middle-grades school in Laurel, Mississippi, reachable at (601) 428-5312. In all, 388 students attend the school in grades 7 through 8.
Laurel School District is the local district for Laurel Middle School. It runs 6 schools with 2,620 students.
At Laurel Middle School, 80% of students are Black. Other students are 14% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, and 2% White. That is higher than the 29% Black share among all Jones County residents. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 34%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 16.6:1. The school has 23.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. The gap from the 13.7:1 average for middle schools in Mississippi is 2.9 students per teacher. In all, 100% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The 76% average for public schools in Jones County is 24 points lower.
Laurel Middle School holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 13% of Mississippi public middle schools.
Laurel Middle School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Mississippi schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 30.6% and a predicted 44.1%.
In Jones County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $52,216, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 21%, and about 12% of people live in poverty. There are 20 public schools in the county, enrolling about 11,313, Laurel Middle School among them.
Laurel Upper Elementary sits about 0.1 miles from Laurel Middle School. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 6 other public schools. Among 9 nearby schools that report test results, Laurel Middle School ranks 6th on proficiency.
Laurel Middle School falls in the Town: Distant locale category, used for schools in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
A 40% decline took enrollment from 645 in 2020-21 to 388 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 14.7:1; by 2024-25 it was 16.6:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Laurel Middle School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Jones County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
66,472
Census ACS
Median income
$52,216
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
11,313 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Laurel School District
- Laurel High SchoolHigh · 732 students
- Nora Davis ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Oak Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 405 students
- Laurel Magnet School Of The ArtsElementary · 323 students
- Laurel Upper ElementaryMiddle · 253 students
- LAUREL EDUCATION CENTERCombined
Other schools in Laurel
- West Jones High SchoolHigh · 1,587 students
- West Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,114 students
- Northeast Jones High SchoolHigh · 938 students
- North Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 854 students
- East Jones ElementaryElementary · 794 students
- Laurel High SchoolHigh · 732 students
Other Laurel Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Laurel Middle. Laurel Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 4.
- Laurel Middle SchoolLaurel, MT · 506 students
- Laurel Middle SchoolLaurel, DE · 373 students
- Laurel Middle SchoolNew Castle, PA · 160 students
Nearby schools
- Laurel Upper Elementary0.1 mi · 253
- Oak Park Elementary School0.8 mi · 405
- Laurel High School1.7 mi · 732
- Laurel Magnet School Of The Arts1.9 mi · 323
- Nora Davis Elementary2.5 mi · 519
- Glade Elementary3.1 mi · 423
Frequently asked questions
About Laurel Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Laurel Middle School?
Laurel Middle School enrolls approximately 388 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Laurel Middle School serve?
Laurel Middle School serves grades 07-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Laurel Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Laurel Middle School is approximately 16.6:1 (23 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Laurel Middle School?
At Laurel Middle School, the student body is approximately 2% White, 14% Hispanic, 80% Black, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Laurel Middle School?
Laurel Middle School is overseen by Laurel School District in Jones County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.