Best Public Schools in Westwego, LA

The city of Westwego, Louisiana, is home to four public schools within the Jefferson Parish school district, serving students from elementary through middle school, with no high school located within the city limits. The educational landscape is dominated by a stark performance gap, with one school dramatically outperforming the others. Ray St. Pierre Academy for Advanced Studies is a standout, ranking in the top 1% of elementary schools in Louisiana and earning a 5-star rating, with near-perfect proficiency rates in subjects like Math and ELA. In contrast, Lucille Cherbonnier School and Stella Worley Middle School rank in the bottom 10% of their respective school types, with proficiency rates often half the state average. Isaac G. Joseph Elementary School falls in the middle, ranking in the 12th percentile but showing slightly stronger performance than the two lowest-ranked schools.

Key metrics reveal a strong link between economic disadvantage and academic outcomes. Ray St. Pierre Academy has the lowest rate of economic disadvantage (45.76% free/reduced lunch) and an exceptionally low chronic absenteeism rate of 7.3%, far below the district and state averages. The other three schools all have high poverty rates (83-86%) and significantly higher chronic absenteeism, with Isaac G. Joseph Elementary having the highest rate in the city at 38.4%. Despite this, Isaac G. Joseph still manages to outperform Lucille Cherbonnier and Stella Worley in several subjects, suggesting its instruction may be more effective for the students who attend regularly. Student-teacher ratios are relatively low across all schools, ranging from 10.2:1 to 16.7:1, indicating that class size is not a primary driver of the performance disparity.

One interesting bright spot is Stella Worley Middle School, which shows a remarkable spike in performance on the English I End-of-Course exam, with 94% of students proficient in 2024-2025, significantly higher than the district and state averages. This suggests a strong English department or targeted program for advanced 8th graders. Overall, the data paints a clear picture of two distinct groups: Ray St. Pierre Academy, which achieves exceptional results with lower poverty and absenteeism, and the other three schools, which face significant challenges related to high poverty and absenteeism. The absence of a high school in Westwego means that after 8th grade, all students must leave the city to continue their education, creating a discontinuity in their academic journey.