The top reported proficiency rate is 74% in Science. The lowest is 60% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Longleaf Elementary
Longleaf Elementary sits on the west side of Hattiesburg, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Lamar County School District. The school draws from a city that functions as the economic and institutional heart of Mississippi's Pine Belt. Hattiesburg is a university town, home to the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University, and it carries a strong military presence through its proximity to Camp Shelby, the largest National Guard training base east of the Mississippi River. The city earned its "Hub City" nickname from its historic position at the crossing of major rail lines and highways, and that regional-crossroads character still shapes daily life. Most of Hattiesburg is auto-oriented, with walkable pockets concentrated downtown and in select cultural areas. Longleaf itself sits in the Lamar County portion of the city, an area that picked up commercial land through annexation and has been a focus of growth pressure since Hurricane Katrina drove an influx of new residents inland from the Gulf Coast.
The school's academic results on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program tell a mostly strong story with one clear soft spot. English language arts proficiency is solid across the tested grades, with a majority of third, fourth, and fifth graders scoring proficient or above, and third grade reading results standing out as particularly strong. Fifth grade science proficiency is also high, with most tested students reaching proficiency. Math results are more mixed. Third and fourth grade math proficiency is healthy, but fifth grade math drops noticeably, with fewer than half of tested students scoring proficient or above. This is the kind of pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school, since it could reflect a transition gap as students move toward upper elementary expectations. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is unclear whether this fifth grade dip is a recurring pattern or specific to this year's cohort.
The student body is diverse in a way that mirrors Hattiesburg's own demographics. Black students make up the largest group, followed by a substantial White population, with smaller numbers of multiracial, Asian, and Hispanic students. A little over half the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which positions Longleaf as a school with a meaningful mix of economic backgrounds rather than a uniformly affluent or high-need population. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the data provided, so families relying on specific special-education or language-support services should contact the school directly to confirm what is offered.
Because Longleaf is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, no AP or career-pathway data, and no college-readiness measure to report. Those metrics simply do not apply to this grade band. The data set also did not include discipline figures, staffing ratios, attendance rates, course-access details, or Title I status, so those dimensions of school climate and support cannot be assessed here. Program offerings were not provided either, which means we cannot speak to extracurriculars, gifted instruction, or intervention programs from the available information.
The housing market around Longleaf reflects Hattiesburg's position as a growing regional hub. Home values in the school's zip code run well above the Mississippi statewide benchmark but remain below the national median, and rents follow a similar pattern. The price-to-income ratio sits in a range that suggests moderate affordability relative to national norms, with monthly mortgage costs only somewhat higher than typical rents. Home values and rents have both been climbing modestly year over year, consistent with the broader growth trajectory of a metro area that has absorbed steady population and commercial expansion.
What Longleaf appears to offer is a racially and economically diverse elementary environment with generally solid reading and science instruction in a district that serves the Lamar County side of Hattiesburg. The fifth grade math gap is the most concrete academic question the data raises. Beyond that, the missing pieces on staffing, discipline, programs, and special populations mean that a family evaluating this school should treat the academic results as a starting point and seek direct answers from the administration on the supports and offerings the data does not capture.
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