1
Enrollment
645
Middle
DISTRICT 639 · STATE 452
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PETAL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280353000005
Petal Middle School
203 East Central Avenue, PETAL, MS 39465 · (601) 584-6301 · Forrest County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL645 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 95% 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.
- ABeats 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
12.8:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
387 students
DISTRICT 60% · 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 | 343 | 53% |
| Grade 8 | 302 | 47% |
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 49% · 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
Students here typically continue to
Petal Middle School→Petal High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Petal School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
57.8%
MS avg 45.9% . -4.5pp since 2023
Math
74.6%
MS avg 52.8% . -7.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 75 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 8 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 57.8% | 74.6% |
| 2023-24 | 62.3% | 82.3% |
% 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
70.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.2%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 64% 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 Petal Middle School
Petal Middle School's state test result (70.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petal Middle School this school | 645 | 60.0% | 70.7% |
| Petal Upper Elementary PETAL | 632 | 59.0% | 72.3% |
| Stone Middle School Wiggins | 575 | 59.5% | 65.5% |
| PEARL RIVER CENTRAL JUNIOR HIGH CARRIERE | 762 | 60.8% | 50.5% |
| George County Middle School LUCEDALE | 618 | 67.3% | 47.9% |
| Vancleave Middle School Vancleave | 562 | 55.3% | 73.1% |
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 Petal Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 70.7% | #14 of 176 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 74.6% | #11 of 181 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.8% | #26 of 181 ▼ 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 645 | #36 of 186 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.8:1 | #60 of 163 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 43.9% | #87 of 164 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.0% | #154 of 184 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.2% | #26 of 34 |
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
645
-67 (-9%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 724
Student : Teacher
12.8:1
was 12.3:1
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 | 645 | 50.4 | 12.8:1 | 60% (387) |
| 2023-24 | 680 | 51.6 | 13.2:1 | 58% (393) |
| 2022-23 | 745 | 48.4 | 15.4:1 | 100% (742) |
| 2020-21 | 712 | 58 | 12.3:1 | 100% (709) |
| 2017-18 | 619 | 55.5 | 11.2:1 | 56% (349) |
| 2015-16 | 628 | 52 | 12.1:1 | 60% (378) |
| 2010-11 | 598 | 56 | 10.7:1 | 53% (316) |
| 2000-01 | 830 | 57 | 14.6:1 | 42% (346) |
| 1990-91 | 724 | 44 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Petal Middle School.
About Petal Middle School
Petal Middle School is a mid-sized middle school with an address in PETAL, Mississippi. Federal data show 645 students enrolled in grades 7 through 8 in 2024-25. Across middle schools in Mississippi, the average enrollment is about 452.
Petal School District, which runs Petal Middle School, has 5 schools and 4,253 students.
The largest group at Petal Middle School is White students, at 72%. Other groups include 18% Black, 6% Hispanic, and 3% multiracial. By comparison, Forrest County residents are about 57% White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 44%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 12.8:1. The school has 50.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. The gap from the 13.7:1 average for middle schools in Mississippi is 0.9 students per teacher. In all, 60% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 79% average for public schools in Forrest County, the school's rate is lower.
Petal Middle School holds an A+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 95% of Mississippi public middle schools.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 64.2% at Petal Middle School; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 70.7%.
In the wider Forrest County area, median household income comes to about $53,640, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 16% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Forrest County counts 21 public schools with about 10,857 students.
Among nearby public schools, Petal Upper Elementary is closest at about 0.8 miles. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Petal Middle School. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, Petal Middle School ranks 6th on average proficiency.
Petal Middle School falls in the Suburb: Small locale category, used for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment was 645 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 712.
Petal Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Forrest County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
78,272
Census ACS
Median income
$53,640
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
16%
Below federal line
Schools in county
21
10,857 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Petal School District
- Petal High SchoolHigh · 1,324 students
- Petal Primary SchoolElementary · 1,016 students
- Petal Elementary 3-4Elementary · 636 students
- Petal Upper ElementaryMiddle · 632 students
Other schools in PETAL
- Petal High SchoolHigh · 1,324 students
- Petal Primary SchoolElementary · 1,016 students
- Petal Elementary 3-4Elementary · 636 students
- Petal Upper ElementaryMiddle · 632 students
- Runnelstown SchoolElementary · 173 students
Nearby schools
- Petal Upper Elementary0.8 mi · 632
- Hawkins Elementary2.6 mi · 283
- Petal Primary School2.9 mi · 1,016
- Hattiesburg High School3.2 mi · 1,014
- Petal High School3.3 mi · 1,324
- Petal Elementary 3-43.4 mi · 636
Frequently asked questions
About Petal Middle SchoolHow many students attend Petal Middle School?
Petal Middle School enrolls approximately 645 students in grades 07-08.
What age range does Petal Middle School serve?
Petal Middle School serves students from grade 07 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Petal Middle School?
Approximately 12.8:1 students per teacher at Petal Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Petal Middle School?
At Petal Middle School, the student body is approximately 72% White, 6% Hispanic, 18% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Petal Middle School public or private?
Petal Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Petal School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.