1
What's the biggest difference between BEL AIRE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
598
Elementary
DISTRICT 567 · STATE 446
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARRISON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280177000283
Bel-Aire Elementary
10531 Klein Road, Gulfport, MS 39503 · (228) 832-7436 · Harrison County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL598 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 56% of Mississippi public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-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
15.8:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
589 students
DISTRICT 81% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 91 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 92 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 90 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 91 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 84 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 79 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (91) is 15% larger than its 6th grade class (79).
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
49.6%
MS avg 45.9% . +4.9pp since 2023
Math
44.7%
MS avg 52.8% . +5.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Mississippi schools, those numbers are about 46 and 53. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.6% | 44.7% |
| 2023-24 | 44.7% | 39.5% |
% 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
52.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.9%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Bel-Aire Elementary
Bel-Aire Elementary's state test result (52.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bel-Aire Elementary this school | 598 | 98.5% | 52.7% |
| Crossroads Elementary Gulfport | 547 | 99.1% | 51.0% |
| Central Elementary Gulfport | 482 | 99.4% | 44.2% |
| Crystal Springs Elementary Crystal Springs | 482 | 100.0% | 41.0% |
| Nora Davis Elementary Laurel | 519 | 100.0% | 22.9% |
| Pass Road Elementary Gulfport | 377 | 99.7% | 63.2% |
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 Bel-Aire Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi | In Harrison County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.7% | #240 of 428 | #25 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 44.7% | #259 of 439 ▲ 48 | #24 of 30 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.6% | #211 of 439 ▲ 72 | #25 of 30 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 598 | #98 of 453 | #8 of 30 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #263 of 408 | #18 of 29 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.2% | #151 of 409 | #18 of 29 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.5% | #182 of 444 | #12 of 30 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.8% | #142 of 296 | #13 of 24 |
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
598
+12 (+2%) vs 2020
-40% since 1990-91, when it was 996
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 15.0:1
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 | 598 | 37.8 | 15.8:1 | 98% (589) |
| 2023-24 | 599 | 40.3 | 14.8:1 | 80% (477) |
| 2022-23 | 596 | 40.3 | 14.8:1 | 99% (593) |
| 2020-21 | 586 | 39 | 15.0:1 | 99% (583) |
| 2017-18 | 702 | 44.1 | 15.9:1 | 92% (643) |
| 2015-16 | 680 | 40 | 17.0:1 | 90% (612) |
| 2010-11 | 680 | 38 | 17.9:1 | 84% (574) |
| 2000-01 | 960 | 52 | 18.5:1 | 56% (533) |
| 1990-91 | 996 | 52 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bel-Aire Elementary.
About Bel-Aire Elementary
Bel-Aire Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school in Harrison County School District, located in Gulfport, Mississippi. The school had 598 students in kindergarten through 6 in 2024-25. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Mississippi is about 446, so this school runs 34% above that.
The district, Harrison County School District, operates 22 schools serving 14,253 students.
Bel-Aire Elementary's enrollment is 65% Black. Enrollment also includes 18% White and 16% Hispanic. Among people living in Harrison County, the Black share is about 24%. The chance that two students picked at random at Bel-Aire Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 52%.
The school employs the equivalent of 37.8 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 15.8:1. Across elementary schools in Mississippi, the average ratio is about 15.9:1. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Bel-Aire Elementary is 98%. Across public schools in Harrison County, the average is 74%.
Measured against Mississippi public elementary schools, Bel-Aire Elementary receives a B. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
After adjusting for student poverty, Bel-Aire Elementary lands between the top and bottom 10% of Mississippi schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 52.7%; the prediction is 44.9%.
Harrison County has these Census figures: median household income is about $59,479, roughly 28% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 13%. The public schools of Harrison County number 55 and enroll about 30,521.
Crossroads Elementary is the closest public school, about 0.1 miles away in a straight line. Bel-Aire Elementary is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Among 9 nearby schools that report test results, Bel-Aire Elementary ranks 7th on proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Bel-Aire Elementary as City: Small.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 586 to 598.
Discussions about Bel-Aire Elementary may include school safety, transportation, and start times. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Harrison County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
210,891
Census ACS
Median income
$59,479
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
55
30,521 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harrison County School District
- Harrison Central HighHigh · 1,483 students
- D'Iberville HighHigh · 1,478 students
- West Harrison HighHigh · 1,216 students
- CREEKBEND ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLEElementary · 996 students
- NORTH GULFPORT ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLElementary · 921 students
- North Woolmarket Elementary and Middle SchoolElementary · 851 students
Other schools in Gulfport
- Gulfport High SchoolHigh · 1,702 students
- Harrison Central HighHigh · 1,483 students
- West Harrison HighHigh · 1,216 students
- NORTH GULFPORT ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLElementary · 921 students
- Bayou View MiddleMiddle · 827 students
- West Harrison MiddleMiddle · 650 students
Other Bel-Aire Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Bel-Aire Elementary. Bel-Aire Elementary is the largest of the 2.
- BEL-AIRE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCUTLER BAY, FL · 324 students
Nearby schools
- Crossroads Elementary0.1 mi · 547
- Harrison Central Elementary1.0 mi · 465
- Orange Grove Elementary1.3 mi · 346
- NORTH GULFPORT ELEMENTARY AND MIDDL2.4 mi · 921
- Bayou View Elementary2.9 mi · 638
- Bayou View Middle3.2 mi · 827
Frequently asked questions
About Bel-Aire ElementaryHow many students attend Bel-Aire Elementary?
Bel-Aire Elementary enrolls approximately 598 students in grades KG-06.
What grades does Bel-Aire Elementary serve?
Bel-Aire Elementary serves grades KG-06.
How many students per teacher at Bel-Aire Elementary?
Approximately 15.8:1 students per teacher at Bel-Aire Elementary.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Bel-Aire Elementary?
At Bel-Aire Elementary, the student body is approximately 18% White, 16% Hispanic, 65% Black, 0% Asian.
Is Bel-Aire Elementary public or private?
Bel-Aire Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Harrison County School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.