St. Martin Upper Elementary

St. Martin Upper Elementary in Ocean Springs, MS, part of the Jackson County School District, serves 600 students in grades 4–5 and earned a 4-star state rating for 2025–2026, ranking 90th out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools. The school has climbed 75 places in just two years — from the 58th to the 76th percentile — a clear sign of momentum. It is the only nearby school serving exclusively grades 4–5; most others serve PK–3 or K–4, and St. Martin Upper is the upper-elementary destination for students coming from St. Martin North Elementary and St. Martin East Elementary.

On the most recent MAAP tests, St. Martin Upper beats state averages in every subject but trails its own district — ranked #2 in Mississippi — by 5 to 10 percentage points. The largest gap is in 5th grade math, though that subject has also shown the biggest improvement, jumping from 38% proficiency in 2022–2023 to just under 60% in 2025–2026. Science is a quiet strength at 76% proficiency, well above the state's 71.5%. One pattern worth monitoring: 3rd graders at St. Martin East Elementary posted higher math scores (67.3%) than St. Martin Upper's 4th and 5th graders (61.4% and 59.7%), suggesting some students may lose ground during the transition.

St. Martin Upper serves a moderate-to-high poverty population, with 65.5% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch — a much different profile from the affluent Ocean Springs School District campuses just a few miles away, such as Oak Park Elementary and Magnolia Park Elementary, where poverty rates are around 26–30%. Chronic absenteeism is 19.3%, below the district average of 21.5% and the state average of 23.9%, though higher than several nearby schools. Given its demographic profile, the school is performing reasonably well, and with continued gains in 5th grade math, it could return to its former 80th-percentile standing within a couple of years.