Orange Grove Elementary

Orange Grove Elementary is a grades 4–6 school in Gulfport, MS, serving 346 students as part of the highly rated Harrison County School District, which ranks 15th out of 134 districts in Mississippi. The school serves a predominantly low-income population, with about 75% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. On a positive note, chronic absenteeism at Orange Grove was just 16.1% in 2023–2024, notably better than the district average of 21.1% and the state average of 23.9% — a strong sign of engagement and school climate. The school's poverty rate is actually lower than several nearby schools like D'Iberville Middle School (99.2%) and Bayou View Middle (99.76%), even though it's higher than Harper McCaughan Elementary's 59.97%.

Academically, Orange Grove has clear strengths. In 2025–2026, 5th-grade science proficiency hit 83.5%, the highest among nearby schools and well above the state average of 71.5%. The school also posts strong early ELA results: 68.1% proficiency in 4th grade and 69.7% in 5th grade, both above district and state averages. These results suggest solid literacy instruction in the lower grades. That said, 6th-grade ELA dips to 55.2% — still above the state average of 48.0%, but below nearby schools like Harper McCaughan Elementary (59.3%) and D'Iberville Middle School (60.0%).

The biggest concern is math. While 4th-grade math proficiency is a respectable 61.2%, it falls to 51.4% in 5th grade and plummets to 42.9% by 6th grade — far below the district average of 66.8% and below the state average of 52.7%. Nearby Harper McCaughan Elementary, a similar school serving the same grades, posts 79.6% 6th-grade math proficiency — a 37-point gap. Because this decline happens within the same school rather than at a transition to a new building, it suggests a possible curriculum or instructional misalignment. The student-to-teacher ratio has also risen from 13.7 to 17.1 over two years, which could make targeted math intervention more difficult.