Caldwell Parish

The Caldwell Parish school district in Louisiana serves 1,310 students across five public schools—three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school—and is ranked 90th out of 116 districts in the state, placing it in the 22nd percentile with a 1-star rating.

Among the schools, Caldwell Parish Junior High School stands out as the district's academic leader, earning a 3-star rating and achieving a remarkable 100% proficiency rate for 8th graders on the Algebra I End-of-Course exam. In contrast, Columbia Elementary School has experienced a dramatic decline, dropping from a 5-star rating in 2021-2022 to a 1-star rating in 2025-2026, with the lowest math (45%) and ELA (39%) proficiency rates in the district. Union Central Elementary School consistently meets or exceeds district averages in core subjects, while Grayson Elementary School (serving grades K-1) has no recent test score data, creating a critical gap in understanding early learning. Caldwell Parish High School reports a 0.0% dropout rate, well below the state average of 3.1%.

Key challenges include high economic disadvantage—with free/reduced lunch rates ranging from 63.57% to 78.53%—and chronic absenteeism, which averages 31.0% district-wide, far exceeding the state average of 22.5%. The district's student-teacher ratios are favorable (9.6:1 to 11.7:1), but the sharp contrast between rising performance at Caldwell Parish Junior High and the steep decline at Columbia Elementary highlights the need for targeted interventions. The potential "feeder school" effect from Columbia Elementary to the junior high poses a future risk, and addressing chronic absenteeism across all schools is essential for improving outcomes.