South Elementary

Summary:

South Elementary is a public elementary school located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, serving 619 students from kindergarten to 5th grade. The school consistently outperforms the Plymouth school district and the state of Massachusetts in MCAS Next Generation test scores across all grades and subjects, with 45.33% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and 51% proficient or better in Mathematics.

South Elementary has a relatively homogeneous student population, with 86.27% of students identifying as White. This is lower than some nearby schools, such as Cold Spring (31.6% non-White) and Wareham Elementary (28.84% non-White). Additionally, South Elementary has a low percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, ranking in the top 5% of Massachusetts elementary schools for this metric. This suggests the school may have access to more resources and support for its students compared to schools with a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students.

Despite its relatively homogeneous student population, South Elementary performs well in serving its special education students, ranking in the top 30% of Massachusetts elementary schools for this subgroup. The school has maintained a consistent level of academic performance over the years, with a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger for the past several years, indicating its ability to cater to the needs of diverse learners and provide a strong educational foundation for its students.


Detail:

Public K-5

 178 Bourne Rd
       Plymouth, MA  02360


(508) 830-4390

District: Plymouth

SchoolDigger Rank:
371st of 916 Massachusetts Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $17,265 Help


Students who attend South Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Plymouth South Middle
High:    Plymouth South High

Student/teacher ratio:  12.5 Help
Number of students:  628

Racial breakdown:

White:
86.5%
Hispanic:
7.0%
Two or more races:
3.7%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  26% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details South Elementary ranks better than 59.5% of elementary schools in Massachusetts. It also ranks 4th among 8 ranked elementary schools in the Plymouth School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 59.7. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details South Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the Plymouth School District. Racial makeup is: White (86.5%), Hispanic (7%), two or more races (3.7%). (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at South Elementary is 12.5. 5 elementary schools in the Plymouth School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare South Elementary employs 50.2 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at South Elementary is $17,265, which is the lowest among 9 elementary schools in the Plymouth School District!
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

South Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks South Elementary 371st of 916 Massachusetts public elementary schools. (See South Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
White students:


Plymouth:

SchoolDigger ranks Plymouth 199th of 351 Massachusetts school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for South Elementary

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Rank History for all students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2003 67.26 322nd 884 63.6%
2004 67.44 315th 882 64.3%
2005 75.09 240th 887 72.9%
2006 60.67 374th 911 58.9%
2007 65.78 328th 911 64.0%
2008 71.80 266th 908 70.7%
2009 63.23 362nd 909 60.2%
2010 51.10 512th 920 44.3%
2011 56.55 443rd 924 52.1%
2012 55.52 466th 930 49.9%
2013 54.40 478th 928 48.5%
2014 49.68 525th 926 43.3%
2015 32.64 669th 914 26.8%
2016 50.08 510th 932 45.3%
2017 48.07 514th 938 45.2%
2018 37.29 623rd 934 33.3%
2019 36.72 634th 942 32.7%
2021 58.82 403rd 936 56.9%
2022 54.36 439th 932 52.9%
2023 65.82 314th 928 66.2%
2024 59.70 371st 916 59.5%
See the entire list of Massachusetts Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 15.38 24th 31 22.6%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 29.51 706th 886 20.3%
2019 29.46 706th 896 21.2%
2021 53.92 368th 894 58.8%
2022 52.57 396th 905 56.2%
2023 47.96 322nd 703 54.2%
2024 61.45 211th 731 71.1%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 40.21 453rd 685 33.9%
2019 44.85 395th 700 43.6%
2021 80.47 60th 705 91.5%
2022 63.95 216th 772 72.0%
2023 87.83 44th 757 94.2%
2024 84.60 48th 760 93.7%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 38.48 588th 893 34.2%
2019 41.23 572nd 902 36.6%
2021 54.28 416th 898 53.7%
2022 56.94 395th 901 56.2%
2023 62.45 341st 887 61.6%
2024 55.17 408th 886 54.0%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.28 319th 656 51.4%
2019 37.48 399th 665 40.0%
2021 44.14 315th 632 50.2%
2022 47.23 309th 672 54.0%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 37.27 588th 898 34.5%
2019 33.64 638th 907 29.7%
2021 61.39 353rd 904 61.0%
2022 51.05 447th 908 50.8%
2023 66.99 296th 896 67.0%
2024 63.32 320th 891 64.1%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Tested In Person students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 60.16 384th 925 58.5%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Tested In Person Students!

Rank History for Tested Remotely students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 54.60 152nd 399 61.9%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for Tested Remotely Students!

Rank History for White students at South Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 25.08 634th 772 17.9%
2019 24.00 655th 780 16.0%
2021 47.15 417th 765 45.5%
2022 42.53 470th 764 38.5%
2023 53.46 358th 762 53.0%
2024 47.34 413th 753 45.2%
See the entire list of Best Massachusetts Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

South Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Enrollment information for South Elementary

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 575 12 2 2 0 n/a n/a 0 591
1989 555 10 2 2 0 n/a n/a 0 569
1990 611 9 2 0 0 n/a n/a 0 622
1991 672 20 7 0 0 n/a n/a 0 699
1992 720 7 4 0 0 n/a n/a 0 731
1993 604 9 3 0 0 n/a n/a 0 616
1994 596 17 5 0 2 n/a n/a 0 620
1995 630 12 6 12 1 n/a n/a 0 661
1996 630 12 6 12 1 n/a n/a 0 661
1997 623 9 7 5 0 n/a n/a 0 644
1998 635 10 6 10 1 n/a n/a 0 662
1999 618 15 4 7 0 n/a n/a 0 644
2000 780 26 5 17 1 n/a n/a 0 829
2001 818 29 5 9 0 n/a n/a 0 861
2002 705 8 1 2 0 n/a n/a 0 716
2003 705 8 1 2 0 n/a n/a 0 716
2004 682 7 1 4 1 n/a n/a 0 695
2005 693 13 2 8 2 n/a n/a 0 718
2006 639 12 6 5 2 n/a n/a 5 669
2007 642 10 10 7 4 n/a n/a 12 685
2008 673 11 10 11 4 n/a n/a 20 729
2009 673 7 10 12 4 1 25 0 732
2010 662 12 9 18 4 1 28 0 734
2011 661 10 7 15 5 2 29 0 729
2012 646 9 7 13 2 2 23 0 702
2013 638 6 7 9 3 2 21 0 686
2014 571 6 5 16 3 2 25 0 628
2015 583 8 4 21 4 1 22 0 643
2016 556 4 3 26 3 0 23 0 615
2017 485 9 2 25 3 0 25 0 549
2018 573 8 2 31 3 1 35 0 653
2019 549 11 2 30 2 1 37 0 632
2020 539 10 3 30 4 1 37 0 624
2021 520 9 5 33 4 1 37 0 609
2022 558 9 6 30 3 2 37 0 645
2023 534 10 8 40 1 1 25 0 619
2024 543 9 7 44 1 1 23 0 628

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at South Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 591 n/a n/a n/a
1989 569 n/a n/a n/a
1990 622 n/a n/a n/a
1991 699 n/a n/a n/a
1992 731 n/a n/a n/a
1993 616 n/a 0.0 n/a
1994 620 n/a n/a n/a
1995 661 n/a 0.0 n/a
1996 661 n/a 0.0 n/a
1997 644 n/a 0.0 n/a
1998 662 n/a 0.0 n/a
1999 644 n/a 0.0 11.3
2000 829 n/a 0.0 10.1
2001 861 n/a 0.0 10.2
2002 716 n/a n/a 9.5
2003 716 n/a n/a 9.5
2004 695 40.5 17.2 10.8
2005 718 41.5 17.3 10.6
2006 669 41.7 16.0 14.9
2007 685 42.0 16.3 14.6
2008 729 41.2 17.7 15.1
2009 732 41.1 17.8 14.6
2010 734 39.5 18.5 18.8
2011 729 42.0 17.3 18.9
2012 702 40.8 17.1 16.7
2013 686 43.3 15.8 19.4
2014 628 42.2 14.8 20.2
2015 643 42.0 15.3 26
2016 615 43.0 14.3 n/a
2017 549 43.4 12.6 n/a
2018 653 50.0 13.0 n/a
2019 632 50.0 12.6 n/a
2020 624 50.3 12.3 n/a
2021 609 47.7 12.7 n/a
2022 645 49.7 12.9 n/a
2023 619 47.7 12.9 n/a
2024 628 50.2 12.5 n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio South Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 591 n/a n/a n/a
1989 569 n/a n/a n/a
1990 622 n/a n/a n/a
1991 699 n/a n/a n/a
1992 731 n/a n/a n/a
1993 616 n/a 0.0 n/a
1994 620 n/a n/a n/a
1995 661 n/a 0.0 n/a
1996 661 n/a 0.0 n/a
1997 644 n/a 0.0 n/a
1998 662 n/a 0.0 n/a
1999 644 n/a 0.0 11.3
2000 829 n/a 0.0 10.1
2001 861 n/a 0.0 10.2
2002 716 n/a n/a 9.5
2003 716 n/a n/a 9.5
2004 695 40.5 17.2 10.8
2005 718 41.5 17.3 10.6
2006 669 41.7 16.0 14.9
2007 685 42.0 16.3 14.6
2008 729 41.2 17.7 15.1
2009 732 41.1 17.8 14.6
2010 734 39.5 18.5 18.8
2011 729 42.0 17.3 18.9
2012 702 40.8 17.1 16.7
2013 686 43.3 15.8 19.4
2014 628 42.2 14.8 20.2
2015 643 42.0 15.3 26
2016 615 43.0 14.3 n/a
2017 549 43.4 12.6 n/a
2018 653 50.0 13.0 n/a
2019 632 50.0 12.6 n/a
2020 624 50.3 12.3 n/a
2021 609 47.7 12.7 n/a
2022 645 49.7 12.9 n/a
2023 619 47.7 12.9 n/a
2024 628 50.2 12.5 n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for South Elementary

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $431 (2.6%) $16,041 (97.4%) $16,472
2020 $245 (1.5%) $15,762 (98.5%) $16,007
2021 $456 (2.6%) $16,809 (97.4%) $17,265

Data source: Massachusetts Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on South Elementary

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 634th of 942 Elementary schoolsRanks 314th of 928 Elementary schools
 33.5%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (South Elementary)4863.9
 15.9%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Plymouth)5560
 5%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Massachusetts)5643.9
 12.1%
3rd Grade Mathematics (South Elementary)5467
 13%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Plymouth)5254.4
 2.4%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Massachusetts)4941
 8%
4th Grade English Language Arts (South Elementary)4846.6
 1.4%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Plymouth)5445.6
 8.4%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Massachusetts)5239.7
 12.3%
4th Grade Mathematics (South Elementary)3949
 10%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Plymouth)4747.4
 0.4%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Massachusetts)4945
 4%
5th Grade English Language Arts (South Elementary)4645.5
 0.5%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Plymouth)5347.5
 5.5%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Massachusetts)5243.8
 8.2%
5th Grade Mathematics (South Elementary)3343.4
 10.4%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Plymouth)4347.5
 4.5%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Massachusetts)4940.9
 8.2%
5th Grade Science (South Elementary)4345.5
 2.5%
   5th Grade Science (Plymouth)4349.2
 6.2%
   5th Grade Science (Massachusetts)4841.6
 6.4%
All Grades English Language Arts (South Elementary)4751.8
 4.8%
   All Grades English Language Arts (Plymouth)5449
 5%
   All Grades English Language Arts (Massachusetts)5242.3
 9.7%
All Grades Mathematics (South Elementary)4253
 11%
   All Grades Mathematics (Plymouth)4642
 4%
   All Grades Mathematics (Massachusetts)4940.6
 8.4%
All Grades Science (South Elementary)4345.5
 2.5%
   All Grades Science (Plymouth)4738.6
 8.4%
   All Grades Science (Massachusetts)4741.2
 5.8%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students632619
 2.1%
African American1110
 9.1%
American Indian21
 50%
Asian28
 300%
Hispanic3040
 33.3%
Pacific Islander11
White549534
 2.7%
Two or More Races3725
 32.4%


Schools Near South Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about South Elementary

Students who attend South Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Plymouth South Middle
High : Plymouth South High

South Elementary ranks 371st of 916 Massachusetts elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

In the 2023-24 school year, 628 students attended South Elementary.

Students at South Elementary are 86% White, 7% Hispanic, 4% Two or more races, 1% African American, 1% Asian.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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