Southside STEM Academy at Campostella

Southside STEM Academy at Campostella is one of the reasonably sized elementary schools in Norfolk, Virginia, part of Norfolk City Public Schools, with 686 students on its rolls from grades K through 8. Compared to the state average of about 499 students per school, that is 37% bigger than typical.

Norfolk City Public Schools comprises 44 schools with combined enrollment of 26,807 students; Southside STEM Academy at Campostella is among them.

Looking at the student body, Southside STEM Academy at Campostella records that the student body is overwhelmingly Black (87%). Other groups include 7% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 40% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 57 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 98% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Southside STEM Academy at Campostella is in the bottom 10% of Virginia public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 61.3%; Southside STEM Academy at Campostella posts 42.0%, -19.3 points below that line.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Norfolk city put median household income runs about $66,109, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 12%. In all, Norfolk city runs 54 public schools (combined enrollment of about 26,807 students), of which Southside STEM Academy at Campostella is one.

Berkley/Campostella Early Childhood Education Center is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Southside STEM Academy at Campostella. On composite proficiency, Southside STEM Academy at Campostella comes 6th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 49.6%.

Southside STEM Academy at Campostella operates from a downtown location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Southside STEM Academy at Campostella has decreased 22%, going from 877 students in 2018 to 686 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment contracted from 93% to 87% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 12.0:1 today.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.