Natchez is holding up the annual mirror this week, and it won’t be too long before we get a written description of just how we look today — and tomorrow.

Whether you accept it or not, the standardized tests our community’s children are taking through Thursday will result in a grade for all of us.

The students will receive one of a number of rankings, but most either sound something like passing or something like failing.

In recent years, the scores have been less like passing and more like failing than anyone in town would have wanted.

That’s not to say there weren’t some very high scores, some very successful public schools and some very smart students.

Collectively, though, few feel we are scoring the way we’d like.

The problem is evident each day this week, though, as our students test.

Not enough people even know the tests are going on, much less care.

Adams County leaves public education up to the teachers in the classrooms, and that’s a failing attitude every time.

A former superintendent repeated himself often — “The public schools are a reflection of the community,” he’d say.

He was right.

The way our students perform today and tomorrow is a reflection of all of us — the parents with students in the public schools, the senior citizens who’ve done their child rearing, the parents and students in private schools, community leaders and those with no children at all.

We can sit back and hope mirror, mirror gives a good report. Or, we can set our minds to it and get involved to ensure Natchez-Adams County is, truly, the fairest of them all.