The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Math. The lowest is 62% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Thomas L Reeves Elementary School
Thomas L. Reeves Elementary sits in Long Beach, a residential Gulf Coast community squeezed between Pass Christian and Gulfport in the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area. The school serves the youngest learners in the Long Beach School District, covering prekindergarten through third grade on a campus on St. Augustine Drive. Because state testing in Mississippi begins in third grade, Reeves Elementary is one of those schools where only a single grade level produces assessment results, so the academic picture is narrow by design rather than by omission.
What the testing data shows is strong. Among third graders taking the MAAP assessment, a clear majority reached proficiency or above in English language arts, and in math the share was higher still, with well over half clearing that bar. Those are solid results for an early-grades school and suggest that instruction in the building is putting children on track as they prepare to transition to the upper elementary campus. The state did not report participation rates for these assessments, and no multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way to tell from the provided information whether these results represent steady performance or a recent shift. A parent interested in how the school has performed over time would want to ask the district directly.
The student body is moderate in size for an early-grades campus. Most children identify as white, with smaller groups of Black students and students of two or more races, along with a handful of Hispanic and Asian children. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which is consistent with the broader economic picture of a community still finding its footing after Hurricane Katrina. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so the extent of specialized support populations cannot be characterized from what was provided. No staffing, discipline, attendance, or course-access data was available either, which leaves a gap in understanding day-to-day school climate and resources. These fields are often tied to state civil-rights reporting cycles, and their absence here may reflect reporting timing rather than a lack of programming. Still, a parent may want to look into staffing ratios and support services directly with the school.
Long Beach itself has a distinct identity among Gulf Coast towns. It began as a radish-farming community and later leaned into tourism, with the Gulf of Mexico beachfront serving as its defining geographic feature. The city holds a Mississippi Main Street Community designation, pointing to a traditional downtown corridor, and the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Park campus occupies a large beachfront site on East Beach Boulevard, bringing higher education and cultural activity into the mix. Publicly reported information notes that Long Beach has not returned to pre-Katrina business levels, partly because of FEMA and MEMA building codes that constrain beachfront reconstruction. The city has shown modest population growth since the 2020 census, and the school district operates five campuses across the community, with Reeves Elementary joined by Quarles Elementary, Harper McCaughan Elementary, the middle school, and the high school.
Housing in the zip code surrounding the school sits below the national benchmark for home values and above the state benchmark, making it relatively accessible by Gulf Coast standards. Rents are also modest compared with national figures. The price-to-income ratio suggests that buying a home here is within reach for many working families, and the rent burden falls in a manageable range. Recent home-value growth has been slow, which aligns with the broader story of a community still working through its post-Katrina recovery.
The district brief turned up no parent-relevant policy, curriculum, or funding changes from recent months that would alter the school's trajectory, so there is nothing new to flag on that front. What parents are looking at with Reeves Elementary is a school serving the early grades in a tight-knit coastal community, with third-grade test results that point to genuine academic strength, housed in a district small enough that families can engage directly with leadership. The gaps in the data, particularly around staffing, specialized populations, and school climate, are worth filling through a conversation with the principal or district office before making a final judgment.
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