The Mississippi Association of Partners in Education will recognize Mississippi’s top school-community partnerships during the virtual 22nd annual Governor’s Awards Celebration on Monday, May 20. 

MAPE will award 33 school-community partnership programs that have produced outstanding results for students in K-12 public schools throughout Mississippi. Award-winning schools, districts, and organizations are in Brandon, Florence, Flowood, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Richland, Starkville, Union, and Winona.

"We had an incredible number of applicants for the Governors Awards competition this year! Scores were very close reflecting a high level of competition. All of our applicants are to be commended for their effort and congratulations to all of our award winners! They exemplify what can be achieved in Mississippi,  through effective collaboration with community partners,” said David Schommer, MAPE president.  A special thanks goes to all of our judges for this year's competition and we appreciate the continued support from PREPS for this worthwhile endeavor. I can’t stress enough the importance of establishing and maintaining effective community partnerships and their correlation with improved student learning outcomes.”

The Governor’s Award selection committee, composed of the MAPE Board of Directors, as well as representatives from business, industry, nonprofits, and education, judged each entry using a uniform set of criteria to measure the overall effectiveness of partnership activities.

2024 Governor's Award of Distinction Recipients

HIGH SCHOOL Governor’s Award of Distinction

Hattiesburg High School (Hattiesburg Public School District) with The University of Southern Mississippi, William Carey University, and Pearl River Community College implemented the “Hattiesburg High School and College Partnership Project,” which resulted in impressive gains in student achievement. The exemplary collaboration raised test scores and heightened college and career preparedness among students participating in dual enrollment programs as well as students getting ready for dual enrollment courses via ACT Prep. Hattiesburg High School’s collaboration with our college partners on various dual enrollment programs such as Base Pair has fostered continuous student achievement in academics and cultivated productive members of society. 

2024 Governor's Award Recipients

UNIVERSITY Governor's Award

L.J. Rowan Elementary (Hattiesburg Public School District)

William Carey University School of Education 

DISTRICT & COMMUNITY-WIDE Governor's Awards

Gulfport School District

Long Beach School District 

Northwest Rankin and Rankin County School District

Rankin County School District

HIGH SCHOOL Governor’s Awards

Brandon High School (Rankin County School District) 

Brandon High, Pelahatchie High, Pisgah High, Florence High, and Northwest Rankin High (Rankin County School District)

MIDDLE SCHOOL Governor’s Awards

N.R. Burger Middle School (Hattiesburg Public School District)

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Governor’s Awards

Grace Christian Elementary School (Hattiesburg Public School District)

Hattiesburg STEAM Academy (Hattiesburg Public School District)

Woodley Elementary School (Hattiesburg Public School District)

2024 Partnership Excellence Award Recipients

UNIVERSITY Partnership Excellence Award

William Carey University School of Education

William Carey University School of Music

DISTRICT & COMMUNITY-WIDE Partnership Excellence Award

Hattiesburg Public School District 

Pass Christian Public School District 

Rankin County School District (2 projects)

Union Public School District

Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District

HIGH SCHOOL Partnership Excellence Award

Brandon High School (Rankin County School District) 

Florence High School (Rankin County School District)  

Lanier Junior Senior High School (Jackson Public School District)

Richland High School (Rankin County School District)

MIDDLE SCHOOL Partnership Excellence Awards

Cardozo Middle School (Jackson Public School District)

Partnership Middle School (Starkville Public School District)

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Partnership Excellence Awards

Hawkins Elementary School (Hattiesburg Public School District)

North Jackson Elementary School (Jackson Public School District)

Spann Elementary School (Jackson Public School District)

MULTI-LEVEL SCHOOL Partnership Excellence Award

Northwest Rankin High School, Flowood Elementary. Hartfield, Highland Bluff Elementary, Oakdale Elementary. Northshore Elementary, Northwest Rankin Middle School, and Jackson Prep (Rankin County School District)  

Lillie Burney Learning Center (Hattiesburg Public School District)

Richland High School (Rankin County School District)

We thank the Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS) for its continued support of MAPE and the annual Governor's Award competition. 

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MAPE has served as a statewide network of educators and community partners since 1984 and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is committed solely to providing training and materials to help build local support for the success of all students.

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