Gulfport School District

The Gulfport School District serves 5,927 students in Gulfport, Mississippi, across 9 schools — 6 elementary, 2 middle, and 1 high school — and holds a 4-star rating, ranking 37th of 134 districts statewide. Bayou View Elementary is the district's standout, ranked the #1 elementary school in Mississippi for two consecutive years, with 3rd grade math proficiency of 92.9% and 3rd grade ELA of 90.3% — roughly double the state average. Its counterpart, Bayou View Middle, ranks 30th of 260 middle schools statewide and exceeds district and state averages in every subject. Both schools achieve this with nearly 100% of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch, proving that poverty is not a barrier to excellence.

Gulfport High School is the district's rising star, climbing from 84th to 46th of 224 high schools in two years, with standout Algebra I proficiency of 85.5% versus 66% statewide. Elsewhere, results are more mixed. Central Elementary ranks 305th of 377 elementary schools, with 28.4% of 3rd graders proficient in math and a 1-star rating three years running. West Elementary has the district's lowest subject score at just 20% proficient in 5th grade math, and Gulfport Central Middle sits at the 37th percentile statewide, below district and state averages in every subject. Anniston Elementary, Pass Road Elementary, and 28th Street Elementary fall in between, with Anniston Elementary the strongest of the three but still far behind Bayou View Elementary.

Chronic absenteeism closely tracks performance: Bayou View Elementary has just 7.2% of students chronically absent, while Central Elementary (32.3%) and 28th Street Elementary (31.5%) see roughly one in three students missing substantial school time. Fifth-grade math is a district-wide weakness, with four of six elementary schools falling below the state average of 49.6%. The internal achievement gap is enormous — a 64.5-point difference in 3rd grade math between Bayou View Elementary and Central Elementary — despite similar poverty rates across most schools. The strongest options in the district are Bayou View Elementary, Bayou View Middle, and the improving Gulfport High School, while the lower-performing schools need attention to attendance, math instruction, and school climate.