Summary:
Sunset, Louisiana is home to a single middle school, Sunset Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 and is part of the St. Landry Parish school district, a community where over 81% of students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Sunset Middle School shows a mixed performance profile. Its strongest area is English Language Arts (ELA), where the school's 68% proficiency rate in 2024-2025 nearly matched the state average of 70% and actually exceeded the district average of 67%. This is a notable achievement given the school's high poverty rate. However, the school struggles significantly in Mathematics and Social Studies, with proficiency rates of 39% and 34% respectively in 2025-2026, both well below district and state averages. The school's state ranking has also declined sharply, dropping from the 53rd percentile in 2023-2024 to a projected 17th percentile for 2025-2026. On a positive note, the school maintains a very low dropout rate of just 1.0%, far better than the district's 4.1% and the state's 3.1%.
Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 25.8% of students missing significant school days, though this is actually better than the district average of 31.2%. Performance varies by grade level, with 6th graders showing the strongest math skills (53% proficient) while 7th graders struggle the most in both math (35%) and social studies (28%). The school's success in ELA proves that high-poverty does not have to mean low performance, and this strength should be analyzed and replicated in other subjects. Addressing chronic absenteeism and improving math and social studies instruction are the most critical priorities for Sunset Middle School to reverse its declining state ranking.
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