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A. W. Watson Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-5
354th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 377 Mississippi Elementary Schools
Better than 6% of Mississippi elementary schools
Summary

A. W. Watson Elementary is a PK-5 school in Port Gibson, Mississippi, serving 531 students in the Claiborne County Public Schools district, where 100% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The school currently ranks 354th out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools, placing it in the 6th percentile statewide — far behind nearby Warrenton Elementary (47th percentile, in the Vicksburg Warren School District) and Jefferson County Elementary (43rd percentile, in the Jefferson County School District).

Academically, A. W. Watson trails state averages by wide margins in nearly every grade and subject. In 2025-2026, 4th grade math proficiency was just 15.9% compared to the state's 51.5% — about one-third of the state rate. Fifth grade ELA (25.4% vs. 55.8%) and 5th grade math (17.9% vs. 49.6%) are also extremely low. The school's student-teacher ratio of 16.1 is slightly higher than Warrenton's 14.8 and Jefferson County's 15.6. However, chronic absenteeism has improved dramatically, falling from 44.9% in 2021-2022 to 15.3% in 2023-2024 — now below the state average of 23.9%.

Despite the attendance gains, test scores have not followed. The school's statewide percentile actually fell from 28th in 2022-2023 to 6th in 2025-2026. There is one relative bright spot: 5th grade science proficiency (53.7%) is much closer to the state average (71.5%) than math or reading. Notably, both Warrenton and Jefferson County also serve 100% free/reduced lunch populations, yet they outperform A. W. Watson by 20 to 35 percentage points in most subjects — showing that poverty alone doesn't explain the gap. While recent scores show some improvement in math and science, ELA is slipping across all tested grades, and 4th grade math remains a major concern.

531
Students ?
16.1
Student/teacher ratio ?
$13,257
Per pupil spending ?
100%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 880 Anthony St.
       Port Gibson, MS  39150

(601) 437-5070

District: Claiborne County Public Schools


Students who attend A. W. Watson Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Port Gibson Middle School
High:    Port Gibson High School
Racial breakdown:

African American:
83.8%
Two or more races:
14.7%
Hispanic:
1.5%
 See top rated Mississippi elementary schools

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At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 5th percentile in 2016 → 6th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Mississippi average (28% vs 54% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (6th percentile)
!Mathematics scores 29 pts below the Mississippi average
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school28%
District avg28%
Mississippi avg54%
354th of 377
Mississippi public elementary schools ?
Bottom 6%▲ up 1 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
129th of 134Claiborne County Public Schools among Mississippi districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMississippi percentileRating
202611.0354 of 3776.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202514.1348 of 3839.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202420.3330 of 39015.4%★☆☆☆☆
202331.9272 of 37727.9%★☆☆☆☆
202228.1273 of 38228.5%★☆☆☆☆
20219.5369 of 3813.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201914.3358 of 3979.8%★☆☆☆☆
201835.6267 of 40433.9%★★☆☆☆
201719.8341 of 40616.0%★☆☆☆☆
201612.4375 of 3944.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201522.7330 of 40217.9%★☆☆☆☆
201438.8255 of 39435.3%★★☆☆☆
201350.7214 of 40847.5%★★☆☆☆
201263.6148 of 41464.3%★★★☆☆
201147.7232 of 41844.5%★★☆☆☆
201049.6211 of 40347.6%★★☆☆☆
200916.6349 of 39211.0%★☆☆☆☆
200817.1350 of 39411.2%★☆☆☆☆
By subject vs Mississippi (2025-2026) ?
Science54%-18 vs state
English Language Arts28%-24 vs state
Mathematics21%-29 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about A. W. Watson Elementary

Students at A. W. Watson Elementary are 84% African American, 15% Two or more races, 2% Hispanic.

Students who attend A. W. Watson Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Port Gibson Middle School
High : Port Gibson High School

A. W. Watson Elementary ranks in the bottom 6.1% of Mississippi elementary schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 531 students attended A. W. Watson Elementary.

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MSMississippi Elementary School Rankings

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Schools in Port Gibson, MS

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Latest Mississippi data All new data »
2025–26 MAAP test scoresNewAug 21, 2026
2023–24 school spending dataSep 26, 2025
2023–24 through 2024–25 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 26, 2025
2023–24 graduation ratesSep 23, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mississippi Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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