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On Tuesday, the Mississippi Department of Education released new accountability ratings to school districts and individual schools for the first time since 2019.

Like school grades, these ratings are on an A, B, C, D, and F scale.

Overall, the Mississippi schools showed tremendous growth over the past two years, bouncing back after the COVID-19 pandemic. Natchez Adams School District was no exception.

The district improved its grade from a D to a B. Additionally, every school in NASD received a passing grade. Joseph Frazier Elementary jumped from D to B and McLaurin received an A.

Susie B. West, Morgantown Middle, Natchez High School, and Natchez Freshman Academy all improved from a D to a C. Robert Lewis Magnet School maintained a C grade from the 2018-19 school year.

This is exciting news for both the school district and the community as a whole. Our schools and how they’re graded play a huge part in who will want to live and work in Adams County. Better schools mean better businesses, better jobs and a growing, thriving community.

Poverty in the community has been one of the biggest challenges that NASD has had to overcome to achieve a passing grade. Many students who graduate from NASD may be the first in their families to finish high school. Students who graduate with associate’s degrees may be the first in their families to get a college degree.

We applaud our school district for helping those students realize their potential, beyond what they may have thought they were capable of achieving.

However, our school district’s fight isn’t over yet.

Now that NASD has raised the bar, the district—with its students, teachers and administrators—will have to work even harder to excel.