West Wortham Elementary and Middle, Saucier MS

Original Research by School Decision on West Wortham Elementary and Middle

West Wortham Elementary and Middle sits in Saucier, a small unincorporated community in central Harrison County, part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metro area. The town has a rural, spread-out residential character with limited commercial activity, rooted in its origins as a railroad hamlet. Publicly reported sources describe a community that has been contracting rather than growing, with population declining over recent census counts and no major new housing developments or commercial projects on the horizon. The area has a volunteer fire department and a children's library branch, but no documented downtown core or civic center. For a family considering this school, the setting is quiet and low-density, with the nearest metro amenities a short drive south toward Gulfport.

The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade and belongs to the Harrison County School District. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet. Enrollment is moderate for a K-8 campus, with fairly even distribution across grade levels and a slight bulge in the upper-middle grades. The student body is predominantly white, with small representation from Black, Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and American Indian students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English-learner enrollment and special-education participation was not available, so those population details remain unclear.

Academic results from the most recent state assessments tell a clear and mostly encouraging story, with one pattern worth a parent's attention. In the early grades, proficiency is strong across the board. Third and fourth graders perform at very high levels in both math and English language arts, with most students meeting or exceeding state proficiency benchmarks. Fifth-grade science stands out as a particular bright spot, with nearly all tested students scoring proficient. Math results in the upper elementary and early middle grades remain solid, with a clear majority of students demonstrating proficiency through sixth grade.

The picture shifts in the later middle grades. Seventh-grade English language arts proficiency drops markedly, with fewer than half of tested students reaching proficiency, the weakest result in the school's data. Eighth-grade math and ELA both come in lower than the early-grade results, though a majority still reach proficiency in both. Eighth-grade science sits at a moderate level, with most students proficient but below the exceptional fifth-grade science performance. This decline from early-grade strength to middle-grade softening is a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly if considering enrollment for a seventh or eighth grader. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate or college-readiness data applies here.

Housing in the immediate area is relatively affordable compared with national levels, with typical home values running below the national benchmark and modestly above the state baseline. Estimated monthly mortgage costs are manageable relative to area incomes, and the price-to-income ratio sits below the national figure. Rental data was not available for this zip code. The local economy draws most of its employment from construction, manufacturing, and health care, with no major named employers identified in available sources.

We looked for recent district-level changes that might affect families, such as curriculum shifts, facility investments, or funding referendums, but the search did not surface specific parent-relevant developments. Locale and community details were drawn from publicly reported sources describing Saucier's character and demographics.

West Wortham presents a solid academic pathway through the elementary years, set in a quiet, affordable, rural community within reach of a larger metro area. The early-grade performance is a genuine strength. The middle-grade slide, especially in seventh-grade literacy, is the main question mark. A family with young children would find strong early instruction here. A family with a preteen would benefit from asking how the school addresses the dip in upper-grade ELA and what support structures are in place for students transitioning into the later middle grades.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 67% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 489%

School 89% · District 68% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 56% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 684%

School 84% · District 69% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 57% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 866%

School 66% · District 54% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 66% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 484%

School 84% · District 65% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 69% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 45% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 57% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 595%

School 95% · District 79% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 71% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolHARRISON CO SCHOOL DIST, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.