Enrollment
124
Middle
DISTRICT 751 · STATE 452
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MADISON COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 280279000989
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School
820 Sulphur Springs Road, Canton, MS 39046 · (601) 855-2406 · Madison County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL124 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
6.4:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.2:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
117 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 80%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
38.1%
MS avg 45.9% . -6.3pp since 2023
Math
50.0%
MS avg 52.8% . -17.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 18 points.
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
56.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.0%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 56% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
124
-47 (-27%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
6.4:1
was 7.4:1
% White
0%
was 1%
% Hispanic
1%
was 1%
% Black
98%
was 98%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Shirley D. Simmons Middle School
As a rural-scale 6-8 campus in Canton, Mississippi, Shirley D. Simmons Middle School teaches 124 students from grades 6 through 8, part of Madison County Schools. By comparison, Mississippi's public schools average about 452 students each, so Shirley D. Simmons Middle School sits 73% leaner than that benchmark.
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is one of 21 schools operated by Madison County Schools, a district that hosts 12,926 students overall.
On the student-mix side, Shirley D. Simmons Middle School reports that 98% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. That is considerably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 37%.
On the resource side, Staff filings list 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 6.4:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. An estimated 94% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Madison County runs at roughly 52%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Shirley D. Simmons Middle School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 47.0% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 56.3%.
Across the wider county, census data for Madison County shows median household earnings sit near $83,441, about 50% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is one of 34 public schools in Madison County (combined enrollment of about 16,432 students).
The closest other public school is Camden Elementary, roughly 1.8 miles away. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools.
Geographically, the school is in a rural area.
Over the past 7-year window. Shirley D. Simmons Middle School's enrollment has shrank 27% since 2018, when it stood at 171 (now 124).
On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Madison County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
111,647
Census ACS
Median income
$83,441
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
50%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
34
16,432 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Madison County Schools
- Germantown High SchoolHigh · 1,411 students
- Madison Central High SchoolHigh · 1,260 students
- Madison Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,180 students
- Germantown MiddleMiddle · 1,008 students
- Ridgeland High SchoolHigh · 995 students
- Madison Station ElementaryElementary · 980 students
Other schools in Canton
- Canton High SchoolHigh · 899 students
- Madison Crossing ElementaryElementary · 761 students
- Canton Elementary SchoolElementary · 411 students
- McNeal Elementary SchoolElementary · 385 students
- Reuben B. Myers Arts & SciencesElementary · 378 students
- Jimmie M Goodloe ElementaryElementary · 366 students
Nearby schools
- Camden Elementary1.8 mi · 99
- Luther Branson Elementary3.0 mi · 151
- Velma Jackson High School5.3 mi · 224
- Canton High School11.6 mi · 899
- CANTON PUBLIC 9TH GRADE SCHOOL11.6 mi · 262
- Jimmie M Goodloe Elementary11.8 mi · 366
Frequently asked questions
About Shirley D. Simmons Middle SchoolHow many students attend Shirley D. Simmons Middle School?
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School enrolls approximately 124 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Shirley D. Simmons Middle School serve?
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Shirley D. Simmons Middle School have?
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School employs 19 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 6.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Shirley D. Simmons Middle School?
Student demographics at Shirley D. Simmons Middle School are roughly 1% Hispanic, 98% Black, 2% Two or more.
What district is Shirley D. Simmons Middle School in?
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is part of Madison County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.