Summary:
The city of Calhoun, Louisiana, is served by two elementary schools within the Ouachita Parish school district, which together form a natural progression from early childhood through upper elementary grades.
Calhoun Elementary School serves students from Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd grade with an enrollment of 420, while Central Elementary School serves grades 3 through 5 with 430 students. Both schools share a notable strength in student attendance, with chronic absenteeism rates of 12.1% at Calhoun Elementary and 13.8% at Central Elementary—significantly better than the district average of 18.5% and the state average of 22.5%. Calhoun Elementary also offers a slightly more favorable student-teacher ratio of 17.6:1 compared to Central Elementary's 19.6:1, though it serves a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students (54.05% versus 49.77%).
Central Elementary, the only school with standardized test data, shows a mixed academic profile. Its 4th grade class stands out as a bright spot, outperforming state averages in both Mathematics (68% proficient vs. 67% state) and Social Studies (60% proficient vs. 58% state). However, overall school proficiency in English Language Arts (65%) and Mathematics (59%) falls below both district and state averages. The school has shown improvement in its state ranking, earning a 3-star rating and ranking 272nd out of 675 schools in the 2023-2024 school year. The transition from Calhoun Elementary's supportive early environment to the more rigorous testing demands of 3rd grade appears to be a challenge, as 3rd grade scores lag behind state averages. This suggests that while both schools provide strong foundations in attendance and early learning, there may be opportunities to better prepare students for the academic expectations that begin in 3rd grade.
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