Enrollment
253
Middle
DISTRICT 321 · STATE 452
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LAUREL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280246001374
Laurel Upper Elementary
600 South 16th Avenue, Laurel, MS 39440 · (601) 649-8573 · Jones County
GRADES 05–06MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL253 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 5% of Mississippi public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
253 students
DISTRICT 100% · STATE 80%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 133 | 53% |
| Grade 6 | 120 | 47% |
Student demographics
32%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
Laurel Upper Elementary→Laurel Middle School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Laurel School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
18.6%
MS avg 45.9% . +1.7pp since 2023
Math
11.7%
MS avg 52.8% . -2.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 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 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.6% | 11.7% |
| 2023-24 | 16.9% | 14.6% |
% Proficient + Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: MAAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MS schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
22.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.1%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-21.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 44% typical for Mississippi schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Laurel Upper Elementary
Laurel Upper Elementary's state test result (22.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Upper Elementary this school | 253 | 100.0% | 22.3% |
| Hazlehurst Middle School HAZLEHURST | 292 | 99.7% | 42.7% |
| Nichols Middle School Canton | 362 | 100.0% | 30.3% |
| Plantersville Middle School PLANTERSVILLE | 241 | 99.6% | 30.7% |
| Hattiesburg STEAM Academy Hattiesburg | 263 | 100.0% | 54.4% |
| Huey L Porter Middle Canton | 356 | 100.0% | 44.8% |
Matched among Mississippi middle 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 Laurel Upper Elementary ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.3% | #166 of 176 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 11.7% | #177 of 181 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #165 of 181 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 253 | #145 of 186 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.9:1 | #98 of 163 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 31.8% | #116 of 164 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #31 of 184 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.4% | #52 of 119 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
253
-100 (-28%) vs 2020
-16% since 2010-11, when it was 301
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 253 | 18.2 | 13.9:1 | 100% (253) |
| 2023-24 | 286 | 23.9 | 12.0:1 | 100% (286) |
| 2022-23 | 295 | 26.8 | 11.0:1 | 100% (295) |
| 2020-21 | 353 | 24 | 14.7:1 | 100% (353) |
| 2017-18 | 310 | 15.1 | 20.6:1 | 100% (310) |
| 2015-16 | 316 | 18 | 17.6:1 | 100% (316) |
| 2010-11 | 301 | 20 | 15.1:1 | 95% (286) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Laurel Upper Elementary.
About Laurel Upper Elementary
Laurel Upper Elementary is a low-enrollment middle school found in Laurel, Mississippi. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 253 students in grades 5 through 6. The average for middle schools in Mississippi is about 452 students, so this school is 44% smaller than average.
A total of 6 schools make up Laurel School District, with 2,620 students enrolled.
About 81% of the student body at Laurel Upper Elementary is Black. Other reported shares: 16% Hispanic. That compares with about 29% Black among all Jones County residents. Pick two students at random and there is a 32% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Dividing enrollment by its 18.2 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 13.9:1. That matches the 13.7:1 average for middle schools in Mississippi fairly closely. Eligible students account for 100% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program. Public schools in Jones County average 76%.
Measured against Mississippi public middle schools, Laurel Upper Elementary receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Laurel Upper Elementary is -21.8 points, in the bottom 10% of Mississippi. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 22.3%, and the predicted rate is 44.1%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Jones County, the median household income is $52,216, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 21%, and roughly 12% of residents are in poverty. Laurel Upper Elementary is one of 20 public schools in the county.
The nearest public school is Laurel Middle School, at about 0.1 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 6 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 48.1%, higher than Laurel Upper Elementary's 22.3%.
Locale: Town: Distant. In NCES terms, the school is in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
2024-25 enrollment was 253, a 28% decrease from 353 in 2020-21.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Laurel Upper Elementary. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Jones County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
66,472
Census ACS
Median income
$52,216
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
11,313 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Laurel School District
- Laurel High SchoolHigh · 732 students
- Nora Davis ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Oak Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 405 students
- Laurel Middle SchoolMiddle · 388 students
- Laurel Magnet School Of The ArtsElementary · 323 students
- LAUREL EDUCATION CENTERCombined
Other schools in Laurel
- West Jones High SchoolHigh · 1,587 students
- West Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,114 students
- Northeast Jones High SchoolHigh · 938 students
- North Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 854 students
- East Jones ElementaryElementary · 794 students
- Laurel High SchoolHigh · 732 students
Nearby schools
- Laurel Middle School0.1 mi · 388
- Oak Park Elementary School0.7 mi · 405
- Laurel High School1.7 mi · 732
- Laurel Magnet School Of The Arts1.9 mi · 323
- Nora Davis Elementary2.4 mi · 519
- Glade Elementary3.0 mi · 423
Frequently asked questions
About Laurel Upper ElementaryHow large is Laurel Upper Elementary?
Laurel Upper Elementary enrolls approximately 253 students in grades 05-06.
What age range does Laurel Upper Elementary serve?
Laurel Upper Elementary serves students from grade 05 through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Laurel Upper Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Laurel Upper Elementary is approximately 13.9:1 (18 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Laurel Upper Elementary?
Student demographics at Laurel Upper Elementary are roughly 1% White, 16% Hispanic, 81% Black, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Laurel Upper Elementary?
Laurel Upper Elementary is overseen by Laurel School District in Jones County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.