Southside Elementary

Set in Shelton, Washington, Southside Elementary is a small elementary-level community, overseen by Southside School District. It caters to 208 students across grades K through 7. Compared to the state average of about 380 students per school, that is 45% leaner than typical.

Southside Elementary is a school of Southside School District, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

On demographics, Southside Elementary records that 67% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 20% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 3% Native American. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 77%.

On the resource side, On paper, Southside Elementary has 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Southside Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 45% of students at Southside Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Mason County runs at roughly 63%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Southside Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 50.2%; this one delivers 47.2%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Mason County indicate median household income runs about $83,270, roughly 22% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. Across Mason County's 26 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,539 students), Southside Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Bordeaux Elementary School, roughly 2.0 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Southside Elementary comes 1st of 6 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 31.9%.

The campus sits in a town-based setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 3%: 215 students in 2018 compared to 208 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 10% to 20%. Class-load math has narrowed: from 17.7:1 in 2018 to 14.4:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Southside Elementary community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.