Best Public Schools in Covington, LA

The city of Covington, Louisiana, is served by eight schools—four elementary, two middle, one high, and one alternative school—educating roughly 4,794 students, with the majority belonging to the highly-ranked St. Tammany Parish school district.

Among Covington’s schools, Lee Road Junior High School stands out as the consistent high performer, earning a 4-star rating and exceeding district and state averages in core subjects like English Language Arts (81% proficient) and Math (75%). In contrast, Louisiana Key Academy Northshore, a charter school, struggles significantly with a 0-star rating and test scores far below state averages. William Pitcher Junior High School is the most improved, jumping from the 31st to the 61st percentile in state rankings over three years, while Covington High School faces a critical challenge with a chronic absenteeism rate of 35.7%, far exceeding the district and state averages. The two elementary schools, E. E. Lyon Elementary School and Covington Elementary School, serve similar demographics but show diverging performance trends, with E.E. Lyon experiencing a sharper decline in its state ranking.

Key metrics reveal that socioeconomic status does not solely determine outcomes—Lee Road Junior High has a relatively low free/reduced lunch rate (40.72%) and excels, while Louisiana Key Academy Northshore has a similar rate (38.67%) but performs poorly. Chronic absenteeism is a systemic red flag at Covington High School, likely driving its below-average graduation rate (82.8%) and higher dropout rate (3.9%). Meanwhile, Pine View Middle School struggles with proficiency in Math (60%) and Social Studies (49%), while William Pitcher Junior High outperforms it in those subjects despite a similar socioeconomic profile, suggesting effective interventions at the latter. The Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center reports 0% chronic absenteeism, though its unique setting limits direct comparison.