Middle school (grades 6-8) · Bay St. Louis, MS

Bay Waveland Middle School

Federal NCES profile for Bay Waveland Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 45/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 280057001233
0/100100/10045/100
👥 S:T ratio
53
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
27
📋 Attendance
29
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Bay Waveland Middle School earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 71% of Mississippi schools.

45
Resource Index · Typical
11.8:1
small classes for Mississippi
100.0%
free-lunch eligible
365
students enrolled

Bay Waveland Middle School has class sizes smaller than 71% of Mississippi schools. Computed live against every Mississippi school reporting to NCES.

Enrollment

365

Mississippi · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

31.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11.8:1

vs 13.3:1 Mississippi avg

-11% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

100.0%

vs 80.5% Mississippi avg

+24% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Bay Waveland Middle School compares with Mississippi and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Bay Waveland Middle School

Bay Waveland Middle School is a high-poverty, mid-sized middle school in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, enrolling 365 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Mississippi schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 100.0% lands close to the Mississippi typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

With 365 students, its enrollment sits close to the Mississippi median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 877 scored Mississippi schools.

Against 307 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #110.

Its student body is led by White (61%) and African American (24%) (diversity index 57/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 365 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 28.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

The surrounding Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist spends $14,358 per pupil, 20% above the Mississippi average, a better-resourced district than most.

Its district draws 28.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Discipline events run high: 96 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 365 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist also operates Bay High School (491 students) and Waveland Elementary School (460 students) alongside Bay Waveland Middle School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Bay Waveland Middle School compares

Bay Waveland Middle School on the metrics families compare, against Mississippi and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Mississippi Mississippi avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 11.8:1 ▼ 11% 13.3:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 100.0% ▲ 24% 80.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 365 top 61% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

11.8:1
Leaner classes than 77% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
365
Bigger than 42% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
100.0%
free-lunch eligible - 24% above the Mississippi average of 80.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
11.8:1
students per teacher - 11% below state mean
Top 29% in Mississippi - lower ratio than 71% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
28.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$14,358
per pupil, district-wide - above Mississippi avg of $11,990
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 365 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
53
in-school suspensions + 43 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 14.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 26.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 60.5%
African American 24.4%
Hispanic or Latino 7.7%
Two or More 6.0%
Asian 0.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%

Largest group: White at 60.5% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 56.5/100

Simpson diversity index - at 56.5, Bay Waveland Middle School is more mixed than the Mississippi school average of 41.1.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist, which includes Bay Waveland Middle School.

$14,358
Per student
+20%
vs Mississippi
Avg $11,990
-13%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 38.7%
State 33.2%
Federal 28.1%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Bay Waveland Middle School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Bay High School Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Waveland Elementary School Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
North Bay Elementary School Similar size Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Bay Waveland Middle School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist · 3 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar middle schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Mississippi, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Bay Waveland Middle School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Bay Waveland Middle School

How many students attend Bay Waveland Middle School?

Bay Waveland Middle School has 365 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Bay St. Louis, MS.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Bay Waveland Middle School?

The student-teacher ratio at Bay Waveland Middle School is 11.8:1, which is 11% lower than the Mississippi average of 13.3:1 and 25% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Bay Waveland Middle School?

100.0% of students at Bay Waveland Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Mississippi average of 80.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Bay Waveland Middle School?

The largest demographic group at Bay Waveland Middle School is White at 60.5% of enrollment, in Bay St. Louis, MS. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 56.5/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Bay Waveland Middle School?

Bay Waveland Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 45/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

Is Bay Waveland Middle School a good school?

Bay Waveland Middle School earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 71% of Mississippi schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist?

Besides Bay Waveland Middle School, Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist also operates Bay High School (491 students), Waveland Elementary School (460 students), and North Bay Elementary School (348 students). See the Bay St Louis Waveland School Dist district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.