Franklinton Elementary School

Franklinton Elementary School in Franklinton, LA, serves 389 students in grades 4 through 6 within the Washington Parish district, a community where 73.52% of students now qualify for free or reduced lunch—a sharp increase from the previous year that signals growing economic need.

Academically, the school shows a clear strength in English Language Arts (ELA), where 64% of all students were proficient in the 2025-2026 school year, just 6 points below the state average. In fact, 4th graders outperformed the state in ELA (73% vs. 72%). However, the school struggles significantly in Social Studies, with only 38% of students proficient—17 points below the state average. A notable internal trend is a "5th grade slump": math proficiency drops from 64% in 4th grade to 40% in 5th grade, and ELA falls from 73% to 59%. While 6th grade shows some recovery, it doesn't return to 4th-grade levels. The school's student-to-teacher ratio of 13.8:1 is favorable and allows for more individualized attention.

One of the school's biggest competitive advantages is its dramatic improvement in chronic absenteeism, now at 18.8%—significantly better than the district (23.4%) and state (22.5%). This is a stark contrast to its feeder school, Franklinton Junior High School, which has a 26.4% chronic absenteeism rate. Interestingly, while the elementary school gets students to class more consistently, the Junior High outperforms it in all subjects once students are there. For context, Folsom Junior High School in the St. Tammany Parish district—just 15 miles away—has a 49.73% poverty rate, a 9.3:1 student-teacher ratio, and far higher proficiency rates (81% in math, 86% in ELA), highlighting the systemic challenges tied to resources and socioeconomic factors.