Best Public Schools in Lacombe, LA

The city of Lacombe, Louisiana, is served by two public schools within the highly-ranked St. Tammany Parish school district: Chahta-Ima Elementary School (serving PK-3) and Bayou Lacombe Middle School (serving grades 4-6), with a combined enrollment of 528 students. Both schools serve a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, with over 62% qualifying for free or reduced lunch, yet they achieve math and English Language Arts (ELA) scores at or above the state average, a strong indicator of effective teaching and leadership.

Comparing the two schools reveals distinct strengths. Bayou Lacombe Middle School excels in ELA, with 5th graders achieving an impressive 80% proficiency rate, well above the state average of 73%. However, it shows a notable "middle school gap" in math, where 5th graders scored only 56% proficiency, a significant drop from the 65% achieved by both 4th and 6th graders. In contrast, Chahta-Ima Elementary School shows more balanced but lower scores across subjects, with social studies being a particular weakness at 48% proficiency, below the state average of 55%. Both schools share identical overall math proficiency at 63%, just above the state average.

A key shared challenge is chronic absenteeism, with Chahta-Ima Elementary at 23.9% and Bayou Lacombe Middle at 22.1%, both exceeding the state average of 22.5%. This likely impacts academic growth, particularly in social studies where both schools lag behind the district. Despite this, both schools maintain favorable student-teacher ratios (11:1 and 10.8:1, respectively), suggesting small class sizes that can support individualized instruction. Notably, Chahta-Ima Elementary has shown a strong rebound in its state ranking after a dip, indicating positive recent interventions.