Enrollment
276
Elementary
DISTRICT 846 · STATE 446
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LOWNDES COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280273001177
West Lowndes Elementary
1000 GILMER WILBURN ROAD, COLUMBUS, MS 39701 · (662) 244-5050 · Lowndes County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL276 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 33% of Mississippi public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-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
11.2:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.1:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
272 students
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 80%
Community
0
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 | 30 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 44 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 33 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 41 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 38 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 33 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 24 | 9% |
| Grade 6 | 33 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (44) is 33% larger than its 6th grade class (33).
Student demographics
6%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · 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
West Lowndes Elementary→West Lowndes High School
Based on grade levels within Lowndes County School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
32.0%
MS avg 45.9% . -11.0pp since 2023
Math
37.6%
MS avg 52.8% . -4.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 32 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 5 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 32.0% | 37.6% |
| 2023-24 | 43.0% | 42.1% |
% 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
44.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.8%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 45% 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 West Lowndes Elementary
West Lowndes Elementary's state test result (44.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Lowndes Elementary this school | 276 | 98.6% | 44.7% |
| Ruleville Central Elementary RULEVILLE | 271 | 100.0% | 41.5% |
| Galloway Elementary School Jackson | 296 | 100.0% | 32.6% |
| Como Primary School COMO | 267 | 98.9% | 24.6% |
| R.H. Bearden Elementary SUMNER | 251 | 98.8% | 33.3% |
| Sale Elementary School Columbus | 290 | 100.0% | 46.0% |
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 West Lowndes Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi | In Lowndes County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.7% | #308 of 428 | #4 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.6% | #312 of 439 ▼ 23 | #4 of 8 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.0% | #358 of 439 ▼ 55 | #5 of 8 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 276 | #341 of 453 | #6 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.2:1 | #11 of 408 | #1 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 5.7% | #387 of 409 | #7 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.6% | #179 of 444 | #6 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.5% | #276 of 296 | #7 of 7 |
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
276
+44 (+19%) vs 2020
-37% since 1990-91, when it was 437
Student : Teacher
11.2:1
was 10.1:1
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 | 276 | 24.8 | 11.2:1 | 99% (272) |
| 2023-24 | 253 | 24.8 | 10.2:1 | 100% (253) |
| 2022-23 | 234 | 27.1 | 8.7:1 | 100% (234) |
| 2020-21 | 232 | 23 | 10.1:1 | 99% (229) |
| 2017-18 | 283 | 22 | 12.9:1 | 99% (280) |
| 2015-16 | 315 | 26 | 12.1:1 | 99% (312) |
| 2010-11 | 207 | 23 | 9.0:1 | 82% (169) |
| 2000-01 | 377 | 24 | 15.7:1 | 50% (190) |
| 1990-91 | 437 | 22 | 19.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for West Lowndes Elementary.
About West Lowndes Elementary
West Lowndes Elementary is a small elementary school. Its address is in COLUMBUS, Mississippi. Total enrollment is 276 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 6. Elementary schools in Mississippi have about 446 students on average; enrollment here is 38% lower.
West Lowndes Elementary is part of Lowndes County School District, where 8 schools serve 5,261 students.
Of every 100 students at West Lowndes Elementary, about 97 are Black. For comparison, the population of Lowndes County is roughly 44% Black. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 6, compared with 70 nationally.
With 24.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 11.2:1. Elementary schools in Mississippi average 15.9:1, 4.7 more students per teacher than here. Roughly 99% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Lowndes County report 75%.
Among Mississippi public elementary schools, West Lowndes Elementary outscored 33%, which works out to a C on the allk12 Grade.
Schools in Mississippi with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 44.8%. West Lowndes Elementary scores 44.7%.
The county, Lowndes County, is where the school is located. Median household income comes to about $53,812, about 28% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 15% of residents are in poverty. The county has 20 public schools and about 8,512 students.
West Lowndes Elementary is about 5.1 miles from West Lowndes High School, its nearest public school. Within ten miles are 5 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, West Lowndes Elementary is 2nd of 8 on proficiency.
West Lowndes Elementary has an NCES locale of Rural: Distant.
The school's student count increased 19% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years. The number of students per teacher increased from 10.1 to 11.2 over 4 years.
People who know West Lowndes Elementary can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Lowndes County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
57,838
Census ACS
Median income
$53,812
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
8,512 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Lowndes County School District
- New Hope ElementaryElementary · 1,191 students
- Caledonia ElementaryElementary · 1,070 students
- New Hope High SchoolHigh · 787 students
- Caledonia High SchoolHigh · 640 students
- New Hope Middle SchoolMiddle · 604 students
- Caledonia Middle SchoolMiddle · 487 students
Other schools in COLUMBUS
- New Hope ElementaryElementary · 1,191 students
- Columbus High SchoolHigh · 865 students
- New Hope High SchoolHigh · 787 students
- New Hope Middle SchoolMiddle · 604 students
- Columbus Middle SchoolMiddle · 597 students
- Cook Elementary SchoolElementary · 415 students
Nearby schools
- West Lowndes High School5.1 mi · 206
- Franklin Academy8.5 mi · 231
- MS SCHOOL FOR MATH AND SCIENCE8.6 mi · 240
- Stokes Beard Elementary School9.6 mi · 369
- Cook Elementary School9.9 mi · 415
- Fairview Elementary School10.3 mi · 244
Frequently asked questions
About West Lowndes ElementaryHow many students attend West Lowndes Elementary?
West Lowndes Elementary enrolls approximately 276 students in grades PK-06.
Is West Lowndes Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
West Lowndes Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-06.
How many teachers does West Lowndes Elementary have?
West Lowndes Elementary employs 25 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at West Lowndes Elementary?
At West Lowndes Elementary, the student body is approximately 1% White, 1% Hispanic, 97% Black, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees West Lowndes Elementary?
West Lowndes Elementary is overseen by Lowndes County School District in Lowndes County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.