The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Science. The lowest is 61% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Harper Mc Caughan Elem School
Harper McCaughan Elementary sits on Pineville Road in Long Beach, Mississippi, serving the upper elementary band of grades four through six. It is one of five campuses in the Long Beach School District, a community that stretches along the Gulf of Mexico between Pass Christian and Gulfport. The school was rebuilt at its current location after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the previous building, an event that still shapes the city's identity and recovery story.
Academically, Harper McCaughan shows real strength in mathematics. Across all three grade levels, roughly three-quarters of students reached proficiency or above on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, with sixth grade posting the strongest results. Science proficiency for fifth graders was similarly robust, landing close to the math figures. English language arts results were more moderate, with somewhere near three-fifths to two-thirds of students meeting proficiency across the grades. A parent might want to look into how the school supports literacy growth relative to its math program, since the gap between the two subjects is consistent. No participation rate data was available, and the dataset did not include trend comparisons across years, so it is hard to say whether these results represent improvement, stability, or decline.
The school serves a moderately sized enrollment for its three-grade band. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of much of Long Beach. The student body is majority white, with meaningful representation of Black students and students of two or more races, along with smaller Asian and Hispanic populations. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those support contexts are not visible here.
Long Beach itself is a predominantly residential community with a commercial beachfront strip. It began as a farming town built on radish cultivation before shifting toward tourism and coastal living. The city carries a Mississippi Main Street designation, pointing to a traditional downtown corridor, though available sources did not turn up detailed walkability or street-life descriptions. The University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Park campus occupies a beachfront site on East Beach Boulevard and is the only four-year public institution on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It functions as a major civic anchor and employer. The city is still working its way back from Katrina, with residents returning and condominiums being repaired, but business activity has not returned to pre-storm levels, partly because FEMA and MEMA building codes on the beachfront have made redevelopment slower. Population has grown modestly since the census, and the housing market reflects a community that sits below national price levels but above the Mississippi statewide benchmark. Homes in the surrounding zip code carry a typical value that is affordable by national standards, with rents that would take up a manageable portion of household income for most families. The district brief turned up no specific policy changes, curriculum shifts, referenda, or tax measures from recent years that would clear a lasting-impact bar, so there is little to report on that front.
Because Harper McCaughan serves only grades four through six, it has no graduation rate and no high school course access data. No information on staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, magnet or Title I status, or specialized programs was available in the provided data, so those dimensions of school life go unaddressed here. A family considering this school would be looking at a campus with solid math and science outcomes, moderate literacy results, and a peer environment that reflects the economic and racial mix of a coastal community still finding its footing after a defining storm.
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