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West Side Elementary

Q: Is West Side Elementary a good school?

West Side Elementary ranks 228 th of 383 Mississippi elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Public Grades K-6

228^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 383 Mississippi Elementary Schools

Better than 40% of Mississippi elementary schools

Summary

West Side Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Picayune, Mississippi, serving grades K-6 with a total enrollment of 419 students. The school is part of the Picayune School District, which is ranked 61 out of 130 school districts in Mississippi and is rated 3 stars out of 5 by SchoolDigger.

West Side Elementary School faces several challenges, including consistently high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 23.9% to 33.3% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the state average and the Picayune School District average. Additionally, the school's academic performance, as measured by the percentage of students proficient or better in MAAP (Mississippi Academic Assessment Program) tests, is generally lower than the Picayune School District and the state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the school's 3rd-grade English Language Arts proficiency rate was 45.2%, compared to the district's 44.3% and the state's 49.4%. West Side Elementary School's statewide ranking has fluctuated over the years, but it has consistently been in the bottom half of Mississippi elementary schools, with a ranking between 189 and 263 out of 394 to 406 schools.

When comparing West Side Elementary School to other nearby schools within the Picayune School District, it appears to be performing similarly or slightly worse in terms of academic achievement and chronic absenteeism rates. For example, Nicholson Elementary School and Roseland Park Elementary School also have high chronic absenteeism rates and lower-than-average academic performance compared to the district and state. In contrast, the Hancock County School District, which is located near Picayune, has several elementary schools that are performing significantly better, such as East Hancock Elementary, Hancock North Central Elementary, and West Hancock Elementary, indicating that there may be opportunities for West Side Elementary to learn from their practices and strategies.

444

Students ?

16.9

Student/teacher ratio ?

$10,055

Per pupil spending ?

74.1%

Free/discounted lunch ?

111 Kirkwood Street
Picayune, MS 39466

(601) 798-3625

District: Picayune School District

Students who attend West Side Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Picayune Junior High School
High:	Picayune Memorial High School

Racial breakdown:

White:

60.1%

African American:

24.8%

Hispanic:

8.1%

See top rated Mississippi elementary schools

Compare West Side Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Rebounding — 31st percentile in 2022 → 40th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is rebounding — up to 40th (2025) from a 31st-percentile low (2022)

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Mississippi average (44% vs 53% meeting standards)

!High chronic absenteeism (33% vs 24% Mississippi)

!Science scores 25 pts below the Mississippi average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school44%

District avg48%

Mississippi avg53%

228^th of 383

Mississippi public elementary schools ?

Bottom 40%▼ down 7 pts since 2015

From bottom 47% (2015) to bottom 40% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

2^nd of 4Elementary Schools in the Picayune School District

61^st of 130Picayune School District 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

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Mississippi percentile	Rating
2025	40.9	228 of 383	40.5%	★★☆☆☆
2024	46.8	213 of 390	45.4%	★★☆☆☆
2023	34.6	259 of 377	31.3%	★★☆☆☆
2022	31.4	263 of 382	31.2%	★★☆☆☆
2021	48.0	203 of 381	46.7%	★★☆☆☆
2019	48.8	211 of 397	46.9%	★★☆☆☆
2018	42.5	236 of 404	41.6%	★★☆☆☆
2017	50.6	191 of 406	53.0%	★★★☆☆
2016	50.7	189 of 394	52.0%	★★★☆☆
2015	44.6	213 of 402	47.0%	★★☆☆☆
2014	44.4	227 of 394	42.4%	★★☆☆☆
2013	56.1	176 of 408	56.9%	★★★☆☆
2012	50.6	207 of 414	50.0%	★★★☆☆
2011	56.3	187 of 418	55.3%	★★★☆☆
2010	68.5	117 of 403	71.0%	★★★★☆
2009	50.2	203 of 392	48.2%	★★☆☆☆
2008	56.3	179 of 394	54.6%	★★★☆☆

By subject vs Mississippi (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts50%~ state avg

Science41%-25 vs state

Mathematics40%-13 vs state

2.5

2 ratings · 1 written review

5★0

4★1

3★0

2★0

1★1

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What people are saying

by a parent
Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I am really proud of the extra attention west side elementary teachers have shown to help my daughter when her grades started falling. They gave her some extra work to help her understand the material and communicated with me steps that I could do to help my daughter know how to study in a more complete fashion. This resulted in her wanting to understand the class material and she has gradually worked her grades better than she's ever had all year. Many thanks to the help and attention from the wesr side elementary staff. robert Close Quote

Schools Near West Side Elementary

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MAAP English Language Arts (2025)				MAAP Mathematics (2025)				MAAP Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MAAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 6th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	MAAP Mathematics 4th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 5th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 6th Grade	MAAP Science 5th Grade	Total
West Side Elementary	Public	K-6	111 Kirkwood Street	Picayune	39466	Pearl River County	Picayune School District	No	No	No	Yes	(601) 798-3625	444	26	16.9	74.1%	267 (60.1%)	110 (24.8%)	36 (8.1%)	8 (1.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.7%)	40.9	228^th of 383 public elementary schools	40.5%		46.8	213^th of 390 public elementary schools	45.4%	15	45.2	58.0	46.4	51.1	31.5	60.0	25.0	51.1	41.0	$10,055
South Side Upper Elementary	Public	3-6	1500 Rosa Street	Picayune	39466	Pearl River County	Picayune School District	No	No	No	Yes	(601) 798-1105	310	21	14.4	79.4%	185 (59.7%)	97 (31.3%)	17 (5.5%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.9%)	63	146^th of 383 public elementary schools	61.9%		72.1	101^st of 390 public elementary schools	74.1%	45	52.7	58.3	51.3	53.4	45.9	68.4	53.4	50.7	74.6	$9,768
South Side Lower Elementary	Public	PK, KG-2	400 South Beech Street	Picayune	39466	Pearl River County	Picayune School District	No	No	No	Yes	(601) 799-0683	320	19	17.0	82.2%	184 (57.5%)	101 (31.6%)	23 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.8%)								(n/a)										$9,726
Roseland Park Elementary	Public	K-6	1610 Gilcrease Street	Picayune	39466	Pearl River County	Picayune School District	No	No	No	Yes	(601) 798-6824	370	18	20.3		210 (56.8%)	106 (28.6%)	35 (9.5%)	9 (2.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.4%)	39.1	239^th of 383 public elementary schools	37.6%		36.4	257^th of 390 public elementary schools	34.1%	18	29.8	58.2	50.0	41.9	38.6	60.5	31.3	28.0	60.5	$11,030
Nicholson Elementary	Public	K-6	1887 Hwy 11 South	Picayune	39466	Pearl River County	Picayune School District	No	No	No	Yes	(601) 798-6309	324	22	14.6	84.6%	154 (47.5%)	84 (25.9%)	69 (21.3%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.6%)	33.3	265^th of 383 public elementary schools	30.8%		40.2	246^th of 390 public elementary schools	36.9%	19	46.9	34.7	43.1	28.5	59.2	46.9	15.7	37.1	56.8	$10,841
Pearl River Central Elementar	Public	PK, KG-5	116 Alphabet Ave	Carriere	39426	Pearl River County	Pearl River County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(601) 799-4519	1,414	84	16.8	66.1%	1,191 (84.2%)	43 (3.0%)	107 (7.6%)	3 (0.2%)	5 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (4.6%)	67.4	125^th of 383 public elementary schools	67.4%		68.1	116^th of 390 public elementary schools	70.3%	9	48.0	58.8	56.9		62.0	74.0	50.4		75.0	$9,417
West Hancock Elementary	Public	K-5	23350 Highway 43	Picayune	39466	Hancock County	Hancock School District	No	No	No	Yes	(228) 586-6054	349	26	13.4	75.1%	305 (87.4%)	13 (3.7%)	16 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.7%)	73.3	91^st of 383 public elementary schools	76.2%		79.2	66^th of 390 public elementary schools	83.1%	25	60.4	57.1	54.9		62.0	65.1	62.8		88.3	$13,554
Hancock North Central School	Public	PK, KG-5	6122 Cuevas Town Road	Kiln	39556	Hancock County	Hancock School District	No	No	No	Yes	(228) 255-7641	404	29	13.9	69.8%	380 (94.1%)	6 (1.5%)	11 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)	83.7	50^th of 383 public elementary schools	86.9%		85.3	44^th of 390 public elementary schools	88.7%	6	60.0	67.8	65.7		74.3	85.8	59.7		88.1	$12,517
East Hancock Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4221 Kiln Delisle Rd.	Kiln	39556	Hancock County	Hancock School District	No	No	No	Yes	(228) 255-8372	633	30	20.7	48.5%	549 (86.7%)	17 (2.7%)	32 (5.1%)	8 (1.3%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (3.6%)	91.8	18^th of 383 public elementary schools	95.3%		94.1	11^th of 390 public elementary schools	97.2%	7	66.9	77.0	70.3		83.0	93.6	81.5		88.0	$11,019

Frequently Asked Questions about West Side Elementary

What district is West Side Elementary in?

Picayune School District

What is the racial makeup of West Side Elementary?

Students at West Side Elementary are 60% White, 25% African American, 8% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 2% Asian.

What schools do graduates of West Side Elementary attend?

Students who attend West Side Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Picayune Junior High School
High : Picayune Memorial High School

Is West Side Elementary a good school?

West Side Elementary ranks 228^th of 383 Mississippi elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend West Side Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 444 students attended West Side Elementary.

Rate West Side Elementary!

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Schools in Picayune, MS

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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.