Lowndes County School District is Ranked as One of the State’s Top Districts

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Lowndes County School District gets top marks in a national survey for the 2018-2019 school year.

BackgroundChecks.org ranks Lowndes County 15th out of over 100 districts.

The rankings for Mississippi’s Top School Districts are based on several factors.

Lowndes County Superintendent Lynn Wright says this year’s ranking is the highest for the district.

“We are very proud for the Lowndes County District, for all of our teachers, students and everybody that is involved. It’s quite an honor to be ranked number 15 out of about 150 school districts in the state,” says Lowndes County School District Superintendent Lynn Wright.

BackgroundChecks.org looked at a wide variety of criteria when they ranked Mississippi’s top school districts.

Student performance, test scores, and teacher quality were all taken into account, but district leaders are particularly proud of one number.

“Our graduation rate, which was at 91.8%, which that is well above the state average and some other things that go into it is the student teacher ratio and the percentage of students scoring at or above the proficiency level.”

“I think it’s just a reflection of the job that’s being done by our people out there in the field and we’ve got a lot of people up here, at the central office, that get out there that make sure the things are done that need to be done. We’ve got a great staff up here and I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with them and things look like they keep getting better each year and we are very proud of that.”

New Hope Elementary Principal and the district’s administrator of the year, Dr. Christy Adams, believes growth played a big role in landing on the list.

“When I came in to New Hope Elementary two years ago, we started digging into data and rewarding students that grew on the state test and we know everybody can’t be proficient or above, but everybody can show growth and that’s all we ask is that the students show growth.”

She says that growth is made possible not only because of the students who sit here, but also because of the people at the front of the classroom.

“The teachers are great and they know where the students are and where they need to get to and they do all the work on getting them there.”

Several school districts in our viewing area also made it on the list.

Booneville, Tupelo, Union County, and Monroe County School Districts were all ranked in the top 25.