Central Elementary

Set in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Central Elementary is a cozy elementary campus, operated by Pascagoula-Gautier School District. It instructs 245 students across grades pre-K through 4. Enrollment runs roughly 45% below the state mean of about 446.

Pascagoula-Gautier School District runs 17 schools in total, collectively educating 6,579 students. Central Elementary is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Central Elementary lists that 50% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder comes out to 29% White, 16% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. By comparison, Jackson County as a whole is about 19% Black, so the school skews meaningfully more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school reports having 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.9:1, putting Central Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 80% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is north of Jackson County's rate of about 59%.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Jackson County indicate median household earnings sit near $66,201, 27% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Jackson County runs 46 public schools (combined enrollment of about 22,712 students), of which Central Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Trent Lott, roughly 0.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Central Elementary operates from an outer-ring location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Central Elementary has rose 3%, going from 238 students in 2018 to 245 in 2025. Class-load math has tightened: from 14.9:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Central Elementary typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.