Bay Waveland School District

The Bay Waveland School District is a small, top-performing public school district on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that serves roughly 1,664 students in grades PK–12 across four schools: two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. As a district, it is ranked #1 out of 134 Mississippi districts on SchoolDigger, earning a 5-star rating and placing it in the 99th percentile statewide. Every school in the district with a published ranking also earned 5 stars in 2025–2026, reflecting strong, consistent performance across all grade levels.

Among standout schools, Bay Waveland Middle School is the highest-ranked campus in the district, coming in at #8 out of 260 Mississippi middle schools (97th percentile) after jumping from #38 the previous year. Its math and science scores far exceed state averages — for example, 82.4% of 7th graders and 79.4% of 8th graders are proficient in math, compared to state averages of 57.7% and 51.4%. Bay High School also made a remarkable leap from #53 to #16 in the state rankings, and boasts a 94.8% graduation rate with exceptionally strong biology proficiency (84.5% vs. 63.1% statewide). North Bay Elementary is the elementary leader, ranked #36 in the state, with 5th-grade math proficiency at 81.9% — a 32-point lead over the state average — despite two-thirds of its students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

While the district's academics are elite, there are a few areas worth monitoring. Waveland Elementary School serves grades PK–2 and has no state test scores yet, but it leads the district in attendance with an 18.1% chronic absenteeism rate, below the state average of 23.9%. However, it also has the highest student–teacher ratio in the district at 19.4 to 1, which is notable for such young students. At the other end of the spectrum, Bay Waveland Middle School has the district's highest chronic absenteeism rate at 30.9% — an area of concern despite its top-10 ranking. Overall, the Bay Waveland School District combines top-tier academic results with a clear math pipeline from elementary through high school, making it one of the strongest school districts in Mississippi.