Sherrouse School

Sherrouse School in Monroe, LA, is a small alternative school serving 106 students in grades K-12 under the City of Monroe School District, a district ranked in the bottom 22nd percentile in Louisiana, with over 90% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

This school faces significant challenges, including a high dropout rate of 20.6% in 2023-2024, which is far above the state average of 3.1% and comparable to the 23.3% rate at the nearby Southside Alternative High School, a juvenile justice facility. However, Sherrouse has achieved a remarkable turnaround in chronic absenteeism, dropping to just 6.1% in 2024-2025—far better than the district (23.3%) and state (22.5%) averages. This suggests that students who remain enrolled are consistently attending class, even though many ultimately leave the school system. The school has also dramatically improved its student-teacher ratio from 38.4:1 in 2022-2023 to 15.1:1 in 2024-2025, allowing for more individualized attention.

Academically, overall proficiency is low, with only 5% of students proficient in math and 16% in ELA in recent years. Yet there are bright spots: in 2022-2023, 63% of students were proficient in English I, surpassing the district (61%) and nearly matching the state (67%). Additionally, middle school students (7th and 8th grade) tend to perform better in ELA than high school students in subjects like Algebra I and Geometry. While Sherrouse struggles with retention, its ability to engage current students and improve key metrics offers a foundation for potential growth.