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
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 75% of Mississippi public middle schools
- BTest 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
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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 32 | 26% |
| Grade 7 | 53 | 43% |
| Grade 8 | 39 | 31% |
Student demographics
5%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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
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.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 38.1% | 50.0% |
| 2023-24 | 44.4% | 67.9% |
% 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
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 →
Schools most like Shirley D. Simmons Middle School
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School's state test result (56.3% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shirley D. Simmons Middle School this school | 124 | 94.4% | 56.3% |
| Simmons Jr. High School Hollandale | 116 | 97.4% | 43.2% |
| Ruleville Middle School RULEVILLE | 131 | 100.0% | 49.4% |
| Holly Springs Junior High School Holly Springs | 145 | 91.0% | 29.4% |
| Okolona Middle School OKOLONA | 125 | 100.0% | 38.8% |
| William Winans Middle School Centreville | 160 | 100.0% | 21.3% |
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 Shirley D. Simmons Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi | In Madison County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.3% | #63 of 176 | #3 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #85 of 181 ▼ 47 | #5 of 6 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 38.1% | #90 of 181 ▼ 23 | #5 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 124 | #183 of 186 | #6 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 94.4% | #87 of 184 | #3 of 6 |
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
124
-31 (-20%) vs 2020
-61% since 2000-01, when it was 322
Student : Teacher
6.4:1
was 5.3:1
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 | 124 | 19.4 | 6.4:1 | 94% (117) |
| 2023-24 | 139 | 18.5 | 7.5:1 | 96% (134) |
| 2022-23 | 146 | 19.3 | 7.6:1 | 98% (143) |
| 2020-21 | 155 | 29 | 5.3:1 | 98% (152) |
| 2017-18 | 171 | 23.2 | 7.4:1 | 98% (167) |
| 2015-16 | 202 | 25 | 8.1:1 | 96% (193) |
| 2010-11 | 233 | 22 | 10.6:1 | 95% (221) |
| 2000-01 | 322 | 19 | 16.9:1 | 31% (101) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Shirley D. Simmons Middle School.
About Shirley D. Simmons Middle School
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is a small middle school. Its address is in Canton, Mississippi. A total of 124 students attend the school, which covers grades 6 through 8. Against the 452-student average for middle schools in Mississippi, enrollment here is 73% lower.
Madison County Schools is the local district for Shirley D. Simmons Middle School. It runs 21 schools with 12,926 students.
Most students at Shirley D. Simmons Middle School are Black: 98% of enrollment. Census figures show Madison County is about 37% Black. The chance that two students picked at random at Shirley D. Simmons Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 5%.
At Shirley D. Simmons Middle School, 19.4 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 6.4:1. That ratio is under the 13.7:1 average for middle schools in Mississippi. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 94% of enrollment. The gap from the 52% average for public schools in Madison County is 42 points.
The allk12 Grade for Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is A-. Compared with Mississippi public middle schools, the school scored higher than 75% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Shirley D. Simmons Middle School's average proficiency rate on state tests of 56.3% is 9.3 points above the 47.0% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
Among Madison County residents, median household income is about $83,441, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 50%, and about 8% of people live in poverty. Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is one of 34 public schools in Madison County, which together enroll about 16,432 students.
The shortest distance from Shirley D. Simmons Middle School to another public school is about 1.8 miles, to Camden Elementary. A five-mile radius around the school includes 2 other public schools. By average proficiency, Shirley D. Simmons Middle School is 4th among 9 schools close by.
Its NCES locale code is Rural: Distant: the school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count dropped from 155 to 124. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 5.3:1 to 6.4:1.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Shirley D. Simmons Middle School. 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.