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West Side Elementary

Q: Is West Side Elementary a good school?

West Side Elementary ranks 219 th of 377 Mississippi elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Public Grades K-6

219^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 377 Mississippi Elementary Schools

Better than 42% of Mississippi elementary schools

Summary

West Side Elementary is a K-6 public school in Picayune, MS, serving 444 students in the mid-ranked Picayune School District. The school currently holds a 2-star rating and sits in the 42nd percentile of Mississippi elementary schools, a position it has occupied for much of the past decade.

The school's most significant academic weakness is math. In 2025-2026, just 33.6% of West Side students in grades 3-6 were proficient in math, compared to 48.3% for the district and 50.7% statewide. The gap is especially stark in 5th grade, where only 26.4% of students are proficient versus 72.7% at South Side Upper Elementary, a school less than a mile away with similar demographics. Reading and language arts are much more competitive, with ELA proficiency at 49.9% — close to the state average of 51.2%. Science is a potential bright spot: 5th graders posted 79.3% proficiency, beating the district, state, and all same-district elementary schools.

Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 33.3% of students chronically absent in 2023-2024, well above the state rate of 23.9%. This matters because attendance is strongly linked to achievement, especially in cumulative subjects like math. The comparison with South Side Upper is encouraging: that school ranks in the 69th percentile, far ahead of West Side's 42nd, despite serving a similar student population. This suggests West Side's struggles are not inevitable. Focusing on math instruction and improving attendance would likely be the two highest-leverage strategies for moving the school toward the top half of Mississippi elementary schools.

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 — 29th percentile in 2022 → 42nd in 2026

Strengths

✓Ranking is rebounding — up to 42nd (2026) from a 29th-percentile low (2022)

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Mississippi average (46% vs 53% meeting standards)

!Mathematics scores 17 pts below the Mississippi average

!Near the bottom of Picayune School District's ranking

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school46%

District avg53%

Mississippi avg53%

219^th of 377

Mississippi public elementary schools ?

Bottom 42%▼ down 10 pts since 2016

From top 48% (2016) to bottom 42% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

4^th of 4Elementary Schools in the Picayune School District

50^th of 133Picayune 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
2026	42.7	219 of 377	41.9%	★★☆☆☆
2025	40.9	228 of 380	40.0%	★★☆☆☆
2024	46.8	213 of 380	43.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	34.6	253 of 358	29.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	31.4	253 of 355	28.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	48.0	196 of 352	44.3%	★★☆☆☆
2019	48.8	202 of 354	42.9%	★★☆☆☆
2018	42.5	221 of 351	37.0%	★★☆☆☆
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 (2025-2026) ?

Science79%+8 vs state

English Language Arts50%~ state avg

Mathematics34%-17 vs state

2.5

2 ratings · 1 written review

5★0

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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

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				MAAP English Language Arts (2026)				MAAP Mathematics (2026)				MAAP Science (2026)	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 (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	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%)	42.7	219^th of 377 public elementary schools	41.9%		40.9	228^th of 380 public elementary schools	40.0%	9	46.5	53.9	52.8	46.5	38.6	31.7	26.4	37.5	79.3	$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%)	67.2	116^th of 377 public elementary schools	69.2%		63	146^th of 380 public elementary schools	61.6%	30	53.8	59.4	55.9	53.4	35.9	57.9	72.7	68.5	76.2	$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%)	55.4	164^th of 377 public elementary schools	56.5%		39.1	239^th of 380 public elementary schools	37.1%	75	44.3	62.5	53.3	53.5	48.1	37.5	46.7	60.5	71.2	$11,030
Nicholson Elementary	Public	K-6	1887 Hwy 11 South	Picayune	39463	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%)	48.1	195^th of 377 public elementary schools	48.3%		33.3	264^th of 380 public elementary schools	30.5%	69	51.3	52.1	52.1	38.8	67.5	54.1	45.8	32.6	60.4	$10,841
Pearl River Central Elementary School	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%)	70.8	107^th of 377 public elementary schools	71.6%		67.4	125^th of 380 public elementary schools	67.1%	18	59.5	54.0	55.7		62.7	61.2	51.4		85.3	$9,417
West Hancock Elementary	Public	K-5	23350 Highway 43	Picayune	39466	Pearl River 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%)	89.3	29^th of 377 public elementary schools	92.3%		73.3	91^st of 380 public elementary schools	76.1%	62	69.1	61.2	78.7		69.1	69.4	72.2		96.7	$13,554
Hancock North Central School	Public	K-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%)	93.3	13^th of 377 public elementary schools	96.6%		83.7	50^th of 380 public elementary schools	86.8%	37	69.6	71.4	75.9		83.9	81.4	73.7		93.1	$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%)	96.7	3^rd of 377 public elementary schools	99.2%		91.8	18^th of 380 public elementary schools	95.3%	15	74.7	76.6	83.9		86.8	91.8	87.5		93.7	$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 219^th of 377 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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MSMississippi Elementary School Rankings

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Schools in Picayune, MS

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Latest Mississippi data All new data »

2024–25 attendance dataNewOct 6, 2026

2025–26 MAAP test scoresAug 21, 2026

2023–24 school spending dataSep 26, 2025

2023–24 through 2024–25 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 26, 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.