1
What's the one class at PETAL UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
632
Middle
DISTRICT 639 · STATE 452
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PETAL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280353000007
Petal Upper Elementary
400 HILLCREST LOOP, PETAL, MS 39465 · (601) 584-7660 · Forrest County
GRADES 05–06MIDDLE23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL632 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 98% of Mississippi public middle schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
12.4:1
51 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
373 students
DISTRICT 60% · STATE 80%
Community
1
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 | 311 | 49% |
| Grade 6 | 321 | 51% |
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 49% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Petal School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
69.2%
MS avg 45.9% . +4.7pp since 2023
Math
71.5%
MS avg 52.8% . -0.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 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 have held steady.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 69.2% | 71.5% |
| 2023-24 | 64.5% | 71.6% |
% Proficient + Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: MAAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
72.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.7%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 72% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% 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 Petal Upper Elementary
Petal Upper Elementary's state test result (72.3% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petal Upper Elementary this school | 632 | 59.0% | 72.3% |
| Petal Middle School PETAL | 645 | 60.0% | 70.7% |
| PEARL RIVER CENTRAL JUNIOR HIGH CARRIERE | 762 | 60.8% | 50.5% |
| Stone Middle School Wiggins | 575 | 59.5% | 65.5% |
| George County Middle School LUCEDALE | 618 | 67.3% | 47.9% |
| Lafayette Middle School Oxford | 420 | 54.3% | 60.3% |
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 Petal Upper Elementary ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 72.3% | #9 of 176 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 71.5% | #19 of 181 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.2% | #3 of 181 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 632 | #37 of 186 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #46 of 163 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.3% | #76 of 164 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 59.0% | #158 of 184 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.3% | #28 of 34 |
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
632
-49 (-7%) vs 2020
-20% since 1990-91, when it was 790
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 15.1:1
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 | 632 | 51.1 | 12.4:1 | 59% (373) |
| 2023-24 | 665 | 47.6 | 14.0:1 | 58% (385) |
| 2022-23 | 629 | 46.1 | 13.6:1 | 100% (626) |
| 2020-21 | 681 | 45 | 15.1:1 | 100% (678) |
| 2017-18 | 612 | 39.9 | 15.3:1 | 60% (369) |
| 2015-16 | 598 | 41 | 14.6:1 | 60% (359) |
| 2010-11 | 653 | 40 | 16.3:1 | 55% (359) |
| 2000-01 | 921 | 52 | 17.7:1 | 42% (383) |
| 1990-91 | 790 | 41 | 19.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Petal Upper Elementary.
About Petal Upper Elementary
Petal Upper Elementary is a middle school in PETAL, Mississippi, reachable at (601) 584-7660. The student body numbers 632 students, from grades 5 through 6. Average enrollment for middle schools in Mississippi is about 452, so this school runs 40% bigger than that.
Enrollment across the 5 schools in Petal School District totals 4,253 students.
White students make up a majority at Petal Upper Elementary, at 68%. The remaining shares are 17% Black, 9% Hispanic, and 4% multiracial. Census estimates put the White share of Forrest County's population at about 57%. Petal Upper Elementary's diversity index is 49%, against a US figure of 70%.
Petal Upper Elementary counts 51.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 12.4 students for each one. On average, middle schools in Mississippi have 13.7:1, compared with 12.4:1 here. About 59% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Forrest County average 79%.
allk12 grades Petal Upper Elementary an A+. The grade compares the school only with Mississippi public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Petal Upper Elementary would score about 64.7%. It scores 72.3%, 7.5 points above that figure.
Census estimates describe Forrest County this way: the median household income is $53,640, about 31% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 16%. In all, Forrest County has 21 public schools and roughly 10,857 students.
The shortest distance from Petal Upper Elementary to another public school is about 0.8 miles, to Petal Middle School. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, Petal Upper Elementary ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Small.
Over 4 years, Petal Upper Elementary's enrollment dropped 7%, to 632. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 15.1:1 to 12.4:1.
The Petal Upper Elementary community page is open for posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Forrest County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
78,272
Census ACS
Median income
$53,640
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
16%
Below federal line
Schools in county
21
10,857 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Petal School District
- Petal High SchoolHigh · 1,324 students
- Petal Primary SchoolElementary · 1,016 students
- Petal Middle SchoolMiddle · 645 students
- Petal Elementary 3-4Elementary · 636 students
Other schools in PETAL
- Petal High SchoolHigh · 1,324 students
- Petal Primary SchoolElementary · 1,016 students
- Petal Middle SchoolMiddle · 645 students
- Petal Elementary 3-4Elementary · 636 students
- Runnelstown SchoolElementary · 173 students
Nearby schools
- Petal Middle School0.8 mi · 645
- Hawkins Elementary2.4 mi · 283
- Petal Primary School3.0 mi · 1,016
- Hattiesburg High School3.2 mi · 1,014
- Rowan Elementary3.2 mi · 425
- Petal High School3.3 mi · 1,324
Frequently asked questions
About Petal Upper ElementaryHow large is Petal Upper Elementary?
Petal Upper Elementary enrolls approximately 632 students in grades 05-06.
Is Petal Upper Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Petal Upper Elementary is a middle school covering grades 05-06.
How many students per teacher at Petal Upper Elementary?
Approximately 12.4:1 students per teacher at Petal Upper Elementary.
How diverse is Petal Upper Elementary?
Petal Upper Elementary reports a student body of 68% White, 9% Hispanic, 17% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Petal Upper Elementary?
Petal Upper Elementary is overseen by Petal School District in Forrest County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.