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What clubs or activities at A. W. WATSON ELEMENTARY are worth joining?
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Enrollment
531
Elementary
DISTRICT 378 · STATE 446
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CLAIBORNE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 280102001213
A. W. Watson Elementary
880 Anthony St., PORT GIBSON, MS 39150 · (601) 437-5070 · Claiborne County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL531 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 15% of Mississippi public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Mississippi public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.2:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
531 students
DISTRICT 100% · STATE 80%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 37 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 86 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 80 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 91 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 72 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 82 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (83) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (82).
Student demographics
28%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 27% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
A. W. Watson Elementary→Port Gibson Middle School
Based on grade levels within Claiborne County Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
33.5%
MS avg 45.9% . -1.5pp since 2023
Math
19.6%
MS avg 52.8% . -12.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Mississippi schools, those numbers are about 46 and 53. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 13 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 33.5% | 19.6% |
| 2023-24 | 35.0% | 32.3% |
% Proficient + Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: MAAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
36.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.1%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% typical for Mississippi schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Mississippi's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like A. W. Watson Elementary
A. W. Watson Elementary's state test result (36.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. W. Watson Elementary this school | 531 | 100.0% | 36.2% |
| Ambition Preparatory Charter School Jackson | 563 | 100.0% | 41.7% |
| O'Bannon Elementary School Greenville | 543 | 99.4% | 50.5% |
| Otken Elementary School MCCOMB | 458 | 100.0% | 36.1% |
| Smilow Collegiate Jackson | 547 | 100.0% | 30.2% |
| McLaurin Elementary NATCHEZ | 642 | 100.0% | 44.7% |
Matched among Mississippi elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where A. W. Watson Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.2% | #368 of 428 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.6% | #416 of 439 ▼ 57 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.5% | #351 of 439 ▲ 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 531 | #129 of 453 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.2:1 | #287 of 408 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 27.6% | #300 of 409 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #27 of 444 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -27.4% | #59 of 296 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
531
-82 (-13%) vs 2020
-47% since 2000-01, when it was 993
Student : Teacher
16.2:1
was 18.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 531 | 32.8 | 16.2:1 | 100% (531) |
| 2023-24 | 518 | 36.4 | 14.3:1 | 100% (518) |
| 2022-23 | 533 | 37 | 14.4:1 | 100% (533) |
| 2020-21 | 613 | 34 | 18.0:1 | 100% (613) |
| 2017-18 | 731 | 39.1 | 18.7:1 | 100% (731) |
| 2015-16 | 750 | 42 | 17.9:1 | 100% (750) |
| 2010-11 | 853 | 46 | 18.5:1 | 100% (850) |
| 2000-01 | 993 | 52 | 19.1:1 | 95% (947) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for A. W. Watson Elementary.
About A. W. Watson Elementary
As a medium-sized elementary school, A. W. Watson Elementary serves students in PORT GIBSON, Mississippi. Its 531 students are spread across pre-K through 5.
A. W. Watson Elementary is part of Claiborne County Public Schools, where 3 schools serve 1,135 students.
About 84% of the student body at A. W. Watson Elementary is Black. Other reported shares: 15% multiracial. The Black share in Claiborne County as a whole is similar, at about 86%. The school's diversity index is 28%, meaning two students picked at random have a 28% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Teachers at A. W. Watson Elementary total 32.8 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 16.2:1. That is close to the 15.9:1 average for elementary schools in Mississippi. The school counts 531 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 100%. That tracks the 100% average for public schools in Claiborne County.
The allk12 Grade for A. W. Watson Elementary is C-. Compared with Mississippi public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 15% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, A. W. Watson Elementary is 7.9 points below its prediction. Actual: 36.2%. Predicted: 44.1%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Claiborne County show that the median household income is $31,897, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 18%, and roughly 30% of residents are in poverty. Besides A. W. Watson Elementary, Claiborne County has 3 other public schools.
Port Gibson Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.3 miles away. The five-mile area around A. W. Watson Elementary holds 2 other public schools. A. W. Watson Elementary ranks 5th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 36.2% against a local average of 34.8%.
A. W. Watson Elementary falls in the Rural: Remote locale category, used for schools in rural territory far from an urban area.
Enrollment at A. W. Watson Elementary dropped 13% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 613 to 531 students. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 18.0:1; by 2024-25 it was 16.2:1.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss school safety, transportation, and start times at A. W. Watson Elementary. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Claiborne County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
8,582
Census ACS
Median income
$31,897
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
30%
Below federal line
Schools in county
4
1,135 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Claiborne County Public Schools
- Port Gibson High SchoolHigh · 381 students
- Port Gibson Middle SchoolMiddle · 223 students
- CLAIBORNE COUNTY VOC COMPLEXHigh
Other schools in PORT GIBSON
- Port Gibson High SchoolHigh · 381 students
- Port Gibson Middle SchoolMiddle · 223 students
- CLAIBORNE COUNTY VOC COMPLEXHigh
Nearby schools
- Port Gibson Middle School1.3 mi · 223
- Port Gibson High School2.6 mi · 381
- Tensas High School14.8 mi · 147
- Tensas Elementary School15.3 mi · 154
- Jefferson County High17.6 mi · 331
- Warrenton Elementary19.5 mi · 311
Frequently asked questions
About A. W. Watson ElementaryHow large is A. W. Watson Elementary?
A. W. Watson Elementary enrolls approximately 531 students in grades PK-05.
Is A. W. Watson Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
A. W. Watson Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at A. W. Watson Elementary?
Approximately 16.2:1 students per teacher at A. W. Watson Elementary.
What is the student diversity at A. W. Watson Elementary?
Student demographics at A. W. Watson Elementary are roughly 2% Hispanic, 84% Black, 15% Two or more.
What district is A. W. Watson Elementary in?
A. W. Watson Elementary is part of Claiborne County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.