Southside Elementary

Southside Elementary operates as a moderately sized elementary campus in Blairs, Virginia, operated by Pittsylvania County Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 428 students spanning grades pre-K through 5.

Pittsylvania County Public Schools runs 18 schools in total, collectively educating 7,830 students. Southside Elementary is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Southside Elementary records that 60% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school shows 31% Black, 5% multiracial, 4% Hispanic. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 74%.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Southside Elementary has 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.8:1, putting Southside Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 84% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, Southside Elementary is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 65.3%; this one delivers 89.0%, a residual of +23.7 points.

In the surrounding community, Pittsylvania County reports that median household earnings sit near $54,085, roughly 16% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Across Pittsylvania County's 22 public schools (combined enrollment of about 7,830 students), Southside Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Twin Springs Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 3.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 4 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Southside Elementary comes 1st of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 72.4%.

The campus sits in an outlying setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 7%: 462 students in 2018 compared to 428 in 2025.

On this page, members of the Southside Elementary community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.