Best Public Schools in Jena, LA

The five public schools in the LaSalle Parish school district serve 1,573 students in Jena, Louisiana, a district ranked 8th out of 116 in the state with a 5-star rating, offering a range of elementary, middle, and high school options.

For parents, Goodpine Middle School (grades 3-5) stands out as the most consistently high-performing school, maintaining a 4-star rating and ranking in the 74th-76th percentile for three straight years, while also having the district's lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 18.5%. In contrast, Nebo Elementary School (PK-8) is a smaller school with a low student-teacher ratio of 10.7:1, but shows extreme performance variance—achieving 100% proficiency in 6th-grade math yet only 61% in 4th-grade math, and its state ranking dropped sharply from the 90th to the 63rd percentile in two years. Jena High School is on a strong upward trajectory, jumping from the 37th to the 59th percentile in state rankings in one year, with a 94.4% graduation rate and a very low 0.2% dropout rate, though it struggles with a high 37.5% chronic absenteeism rate. Jena Junior High School (grades 6-8) excels in English Language Arts (87% proficient) and math (74% proficient), both well above state averages.

A key takeaway is that chronic absenteeism is a district-wide challenge at 26.5%, higher than the state average of 22.5%, with Jena High School being the most affected. The district also shows a potential drop-off in math proficiency when students transition from Goodpine Middle (69%) to Jena Junior High (66%), suggesting a need for better alignment between elementary and middle school curricula. Overall, while Goodpine Middle offers stability and Jena High shows impressive improvement, Nebo Elementary's volatility and the district's attendance issues are important factors for parents to consider when evaluating school options in Jena.