Enrollment
367
Mississippi · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Vardaman, MS
Vardaman Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Vardaman Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 58/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 280087001106
👥 S:T ratio 57
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 27
📋 Attendance 77
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Vardaman Elementary School earns 58/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 84% of Mississippi schools.
- 58
- Resource Index · Higher
- 10.8:1
- small classes for Mississippi
- 79.6%
- free-lunch eligible
- 367
- students enrolled
Vardaman Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 84% of Mississippi schools. Computed live against every Mississippi school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Calhoun Co School Dist · Mississippi
NCES ID 280087001106 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
34.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10.8:1
vs 13.3:1 Mississippi avg
-19% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
79.6%
vs 80.5% Mississippi avg
-1% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Vardaman Elementary School compares with Mississippi and U.S. medians
What stands out at Vardaman Elementary School
Vardaman Elementary School is a high-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Vardaman, Mississippi, enrolling 367 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 10.8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Mississippi schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 79.6% lands close to the Mississippi typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
With 367 students, its enrollment sits close to the Mississippi median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 93% of the 877 Mississippi schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Among 111 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Mississippi schools statewide, it ranks #5, a top-tier result once campus size and economic need are matched.
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 367 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Attendance holds up well here: only 9.3% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
Its district draws 27.4% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
The federal civil-rights collection also records 1 expulsion at this campus for 2021-22.
Calhoun Co School Dist also operates Bruce High School (435 students) and Calhoun City High School (379 students) alongside Vardaman Elementary 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 Vardaman Elementary School compares
Vardaman Elementary 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 | 10.8:1 | ▼ 19% | 13.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 79.6% | ▼ 1% | 80.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 367 | top 60% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
10.8:1
Leaner classes than 84% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
367
Bigger than 42% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
79.6%
free-lunch eligible
- 1% below the Mississippi average of 80.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
10.8:1
students per teacher
- 19% below state mean
Top 16% in Mississippi - lower ratio than 84% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
9.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$11,560
per pupil, district-wide
- below Mississippi avg of $11,990
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 367 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
20
in-school suspensions + 3 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 5.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 1 expulsion.
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.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Calhoun Co School Dist, which includes Vardaman Elementary School.
$11,560
Per student
-4%
vs Mississippi
Avg $11,990
-30%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 20.8%
State 51.8%
Federal 27.4%
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 Vardaman Elementary School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce High School | Similar size | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Calhoun City High School | Similar size | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Bruce Elementary School | Similar size | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Vardaman High School | Smaller | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Calhoun City Elementary School | Smaller | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Vardaman Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 435
- Students per teacher
- 10.9:1
- Resource Index
- 38/100
- Enrollment
- 379
- Students per teacher
- 10.5:1
- Resource Index
- 53/100
- Enrollment
- 316
- Students per teacher
- 9.9:1
- Resource Index
- 67/100
- Enrollment
- 274
- Students per teacher
- 10.5:1
- Resource Index
- 47/100
- Enrollment
- 235
- Students per teacher
- 8.7:1
- Resource Index
- 58/100
Similar other 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.
Similar enrollment (~367 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Vardaman Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Vardaman Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Calhoun Co School Dist's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
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 Vardaman Elementary School
How many students attend Vardaman Elementary School?
Vardaman Elementary School has 367 students enrolled. It is a public school in Vardaman, MS.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Vardaman Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Vardaman Elementary School is 10.8:1, which is 19% lower than the Mississippi average of 13.3:1 and 31% 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 Vardaman Elementary School?
79.6% of students at Vardaman Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Mississippi average of 80.5%.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Vardaman Elementary School?
Vardaman Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 58/100 (higher 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 Vardaman Elementary School a good school?
Vardaman Elementary School earns 58/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 84% 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 Calhoun Co School Dist?
Besides Vardaman Elementary School, Calhoun Co School Dist also operates Bruce High School (435 students), Calhoun City High School (379 students), and Bruce Elementary School (316 students). See the Calhoun Co School Dist district page for the complete list.
Related tools
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.