Summary:
Duson, Louisiana, is home to a single middle school, Judice Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 with an enrollment of 442 students as part of the highly-rated Lafayette Parish school district.
Judice Middle School presents a mixed academic profile. The school's overall state ranking has declined slightly over the past three years, now sitting in the 49th percentile. While it performs above the state average in Mathematics (64% proficiency) and English Language Arts (71% proficiency), it falls below the strong district averages in nearly every subject. A notable strength is 8th Grade Social Studies, where 68% of students are proficient, significantly outpacing both the district (60%) and state (61%). Conversely, a clear weakness appears in 7th Grade English Language Arts, where only 63% of students are proficient, compared to the district's 74% and state's 71%. This suggests a potential "7th grade slump" that may warrant further investigation.
A key concern is the school's high chronic absenteeism rate of 27.7%, which is well above both the district (24.0%) and state (22.5%) averages. Interestingly, this is paired with a very low dropout rate of just 1.2%, less than half the district and state averages. This paradox suggests that while many students are frequently missing school, they are not leaving the system entirely. With 61% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a majority low-income population. The student-teacher ratio is 23.3:1, and the school's performance, while mixed, shows it is a lower-performing school within a strong district, making its below-district scores more pronounced.
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