Cameron Parish

The Cameron Parish school district in Louisiana is a top-tier, 4-star district (ranked 17th out of 116) serving 1,120 students across five unique schools, including a standout elementary, a high-performing high school, and three comprehensive PK-12 "alternative" schools that function as the primary neighborhood schools for their rural communities.

The district's academic strength is anchored by the Grand Lake feeder pattern. Grand Lake Elementary is the clear academic powerhouse, earning a 5-star rating with exceptional proficiency rates of 87% in Math and 90% in ELA, far outpacing both district and state averages. This strong foundation feeds directly into Grand Lake High School, which boasts a 0% dropout rate, a 92.5% graduation rate, and outstanding End-of-Course exam scores (93% in Algebra I, 87% in English II). In contrast, the three "alternative" schools—Hackberry High School, South Cameron High School, and Johnson Bayou High School—serve as the only schools in their communities and show mixed results. Johnson Bayou High School is a small-school surprise, posting strong Math (71%) and Social Studies (74%) proficiency despite having the highest chronic absenteeism rate (25.4%).

A key takeaway is the district's exceptional performance in advanced high school math, with South Cameron High School achieving 100% proficiency in Geometry and Hackberry High School reaching 88%—both dramatically above state averages. However, Social Studies is a district-wide weakness, with only Grand Lake Elementary (69%) and Johnson Bayou High School (74%) exceeding the state average. The district also benefits from very low student-teacher ratios (as low as 3.1:1 at Johnson Bayou), enabling personalized instruction, though chronic absenteeism remains a challenge, particularly at the smaller schools.