The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in Science. The lowest is 43% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Thames Elementary School
Thames Elementary School sits on Jamestown Road in Hattiesburg, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Hattiesburg Public School District. It is a neighborhood elementary school with a sizable enrollment for its grade band, and every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black or African American, with small shares of multiracial, White, Hispanic, and Asian students. The school does not carry charter or magnet designation.
On the most recent Mississippi Academic Assessment Program results, Thames shows a mixed academic profile across the tested grades. Third-grade math stands out as a relative strength, with a clear majority of tested students scoring proficient or above. That result softens considerably by fourth grade and drops further in fifth-grade math, where fewer than a third of tested students reached proficiency. English language arts tells a different story: proficiency is moderate in third and fourth grade, then rises in fifth grade, where a majority of students cleared the proficiency bar. Fifth-grade science results are also relatively strong, with a majority proficient. Taken together, the school's strongest results cluster at the earliest tested grade in math and the latest tested grade in ELA and science, with a pronounced dip in middle-grade math that a parent may want to look into further with the school.
No prior-year assessment data was available for trend comparison, so it is not possible to say whether these patterns are improving, stable, or recent. Participation rates were also missing from the data provided. Information on special education enrollment, English learner counts, discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance was not available in the payload, and Thames does not have a neighbor comparison set to position it against nearby schools. Program offerings and civil-rights data were not provided either.
The broader district context is encouraging. Hattiesburg Public School District has publicly reported earning the state's top accountability rating for three consecutive years, along with several state and national honors. That district-level track record may give parents some confidence in the support structure around Thames, even where individual grade-level results vary.
Hattiesburg itself is a mid-sized city that anchors the Pine Belt region. It is a university town, home to the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University, which gives it a younger population than many Mississippi cities of similar size. Camp Shelby, the largest National Guard training base east of the Mississippi River, sits just south of the city and brings a steady military presence. Historically known as "The Hub City" for its rail and highway intersections, Hattiesburg today has a mix of residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and institutional employers. Public transit appears limited, and the built environment is largely auto-oriented, though a historic neighborhood district near downtown and a Freedom Summer Trail commemorating Civil Rights sites offer pockets of walkable, culturally rooted space.
The housing market around the school's zip code is moderately priced relative to national figures, with typical home values above the state benchmark but below the national one. Rents are modest by national standards. Estimated mortgage costs remain below typical rent for the area, which may interest families weighing whether to rent or buy.
For a parent weighing Thames, the picture is one of a community-serving elementary school in a university-anchored, institutionally rich small city, where early-grade math and upper-grade reading and science show real proficiency but middle-grade math needs attention. The district's strong accountability record provides a backdrop worth asking about during a school visit, especially to understand how Thames fits into that district-wide performance.
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