Best Public Schools in Marrero, LA

Marrero, Louisiana, is home to 10 public schools within the Jefferson Parish school district, serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, and the city's educational landscape is sharply divided between one high-performing outlier and several struggling schools. The standout is Fisher Middle/High School, which ranks in the 90th percentile statewide and boasts strong academic scores, a high graduation rate of 86.1%, and a low dropout rate of just 1.0%, all while serving a student body where 61% qualify for free or reduced lunch. In stark contrast, schools like Harry S Truman School, Estelle School, and Lincoln School for the Arts rank in the bottom 10th percentile of elementary schools, with critically low test scores and high poverty rates exceeding 80%.

Key metrics reveal significant challenges across the city. The average chronic absenteeism rate is a high 28.8%, with L.W. Higgins High School reporting a staggering 58.2% of students chronically absent, which correlates with its low graduation rate of 72.0% and high dropout rate of 7.8%. Academic performance varies widely: math proficiency ranges from 28% at Harry S Truman to 74% at Fisher, while ELA proficiency spans from 40% at Harry S Truman to 69% at Allen Ellender School. The only dedicated middle school, L.H. Marrero Middle School, shows a notable drop in performance compared to top elementary schools, with only 44% math proficiency and a particularly low 22% in 8th grade math.

Despite these struggles, there are glimmers of hope. Congetta Trippe Janet Elementary School and Allen Ellender School perform at or above district averages in math and ELA while having the lowest chronic absenteeism rates in the city, suggesting that strong foundational learning and consistent attendance are achievable. The data also shows that while economic disadvantage is a major hurdle—with an average free/reduced lunch rate of 76.5%—Fisher Middle/High School proves that high achievement is possible even when a majority of students face economic challenges, offering a model for what targeted interventions might achieve across the district.