Coahoma Early College High School

Coahoma Early College High School (Aggie)
Location
3240 Friars Point Road Clarksdale , MS 38614 United States
Coordinates	34.2560689°N 90.5712512°W / 34.2560689; -90.5712512
Information
Type	Public, Secondary
School district	Coahoma AHS District
President	Valmadge Towner
Principal	Cloretha Jamison
Teaching staff	41.95 (FTE)[1]
Grades	7–12
Number of students	552 (2023-2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	13.16[1]
Color(s)	Maroon and White
Mascot	Tigers
Website	http://cahs.k12.ms.us/

Coahoma Early College High School (CECHS), formerly Coahoma Agricultural High School (CAHS), is a public secondary school in unincorporated Coahoma County, Mississippi (United States), with a Clarksdale postal address.[2] The school is designated as a part of the Coahoma Agricultural High School District (ASD #1402),[3] and operated by Coahoma Community College.[4] Previously it was, as of 2000, one of three independently functioning agricultural high schools in the state of Mississippi.[5] The school has its own facilities, instructional and administrative personnel, and student programs. It shares library facilities with the college.

When it was still CAHS, the school operated the Coahoma Early College High School program.[6] On July 1, 2018, the original Coahoma County Agricultural High School was dissolved, with the Coahoma Early College High School taking its place.

History

Coahoma County Agricultural High School was established in 1924. It was one of the first agricultural high schools for Blacks in Mississippi. A junior college curriculum was added in 1949 and the institution's name was changed to Coahoma Junior College and Agricultural High School. The school was desegregated in 1965, although the student body has remained mostly and in recent years, exclusively African American.

Coahoma Junior College was removed from the title of Coahoma County Agricultural High School in 1975 and in 1981, the school began operating separately from the Coahoma County School District and dropped the word "county" from its name.

A 2012 report by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates suggested changing the school's focus to an early college school and/or merging it. It stated that the school's academic performance was below the state average and that the school no longer had a focus on agriculture.[4]

On July 1, 2018, the original Coahoma County Agricultural High School was dissolved, with the Coahoma Early College High School taking its place. Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant signed into law Senate Bill 2501, which required this change in the school, in May 2016.[7]

Demographics

A majority of the Coahoma AHS student body comes from the towns of Friars Point, Coahoma, Lula, and Jonestown – all part of the Coahoma County School District. A limited number of students from the Clarksdale Municipal School District opt to attend Coahoma AHS instead of Clarksdale High School.^[citation needed]

In the 2014–15 school year, the school enrolled 267 black students, 1 Hispanic, and no white students.[8]

Structure

The president of Coahoma Community College also serves as superintendent of the Coahoma Agricultural High School. The same board of trustees governs both the high school and community college.

In addition to the superintendent and board of trustees, Coahoma AHS has the same administrative personnel common in other public high schools, including a principal and assistant principal.

Leadership

Superintendents

Term	Incumbent
1924–1925	M. L. Strange
1925–1929	J. M. Mosley
1929–1937	J. W. Addison
1937–1945	J. B. Wright
1945–1966	B. F. McLaurin
1966–1979	J. E. Miller
1980–1992	McKinley C. Martin
1992–2013	Vivian Presley
2013–present	Valmadge T. Towner

Principals

Term	Incumbent
1951–1954	James E. Miller
1954–1963	W. L. Tobias
1963–1974	Frank McCune
1974–1984	Eugene Fox
1984–1985	Albert Williams
1985–1986	Sammy Fellton
1986–1987	T. W. Richardson
1987–1993	S. T. Bailey
1993–1996	Olenza McBride
1996–2007	John Brown
2007–2013	I. D. Thompson
2014–2015	Braxton Stowe
2015–2018	Milton Hardrict
2018–Present	Cloretha Jamison

Demographics

2006–07 school year

There was a total of 291 students enrolled at Coahoma Agricultural High School during the 2006–2007 school year. The gender makeup of the school was 53% female and 47% male. The racial makeup of the school was 100.00% African American.[9] 93.5% of the school's students were eligible to receive free lunch.[10]

Previous school years

School Year	Enrollment	Gender Makeup		Racial Makeup
		Female	Male	Asian	African American	Hispanic	Native American	White
2005–06[9]	305	53%	47%	–	100.00%	–	–	–
2004–05[9]	313	53%	47%	–	100.00%	–	–	–
2003–04[9]	297	55%	45%	–	100.00%	–	–	–
2002–03[11]	298	55%	45%	–	100.00%	–	–	–

Accountability statistics

	2006–07[12]	2005–06[13]	2004–05[14]	2003–04[15]	2002–03[16]
District Accreditation Status	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited
School Performance Classifications
Level 5 (Superior Performing)
Level 4 (Exemplary)
Level 3 (Successful)			X	X	X
Level 2 (Under Performing)	X	X
Level 1 (Low Performing)

Notable alumni

• Aaron Henry, civil rights leader

See also

• Forrest County Agricultural High School - The sole remaining independently functioning agricultural high school in Mississippi
• Hinds County Agricultural High School - One of three remaining independent agricultural high schools in the state until its 2014 closure
• List of high schools in Mississippi
• List of school districts in Mississippi

References

1. "COAHOMA COUNTY JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
2. "Home". Coahoma Early College High School. Retrieved July 19, 2019. 3240 Friars Point Road Clarksdale, MS 38614
3. "District Info Archived 2017-06-15 at the Wayback Machine." Coahoma Agricultural High School. Retrieved on July 8, 2017.
4. "State education board recommends closing one agriculture school, converting one and keeping one". Associated Press at gulflive.com. December 20, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
5. "School District SuperintendentsMay 18". Archived from the original on October 2, 2000. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
6. "Coahoma Early College." Coahoma Agricultural High School. Retrieved on July 8, 2017.
7. "Bryant signs 5 bills to consolidate some school districts". Fox 13 Memphis. May 12, 2016. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
8. "School Directory Information 2014-15". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
9. "Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System". Office of Research and Statistics, Mississippi Department of Education. Archived from the original on March 23, 2007.
10. "2006-07 State, District, and School Enrollment by Race/Gender with Poverty Data" (XLS). Mississippi Department of Education. January 16, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2008. ^[dead link‍]
11. "Mississippi Report Card for 2002-2003". Office of Educational Accountability, Mississippi Department of Education. September 2, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
12. "2007 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 13, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
13. "2006 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 6, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2007.
14. "2005 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 9, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2006. Retrieved May 7, 2007.
15. "2004 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. September 26, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2007.
16. "2003 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. November 21, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 11, 2006. Retrieved May 7, 2007.

External links

• Coahoma Early College High School – Official site.
• Coahoma Community College – Official site.