Summary:
The Concordia Parish school district in Louisiana serves approximately 2,911 students across 10 schools, including elementary, middle, high, and alternative schools, and is characterized by high levels of economic disadvantage, with free or reduced-price lunch rates ranging from 64.77% to 95.5%.
The district's standout school is Monterey High School, an alternative school that dramatically outperforms all others, achieving 75% proficiency in Math and 82% in English Language Arts, along with a 93.5% graduation rate and a low 14.4% chronic absenteeism rate, likely due to its very low student-teacher ratio of 9.2:1. In contrast, Ferriday High School struggles severely, ranking in the 9th percentile statewide with critically low test scores like 16% proficiency in Geometry and 30% in English I, despite a high 89.9% graduation rate. Vidalia High School faces its own challenges with the district's highest chronic absenteeism rate at 31.3% and a 6.3% dropout rate, double the state average. Overall, schools in Vidalia—such as Vidalia Upper Elementary School (50th percentile) and Vidalia Junior High School—generally outperform their Ferriday counterparts, like Ferriday Upper Elementary School (10th percentile) and Ferriday Junior High School, which correlates with slightly lower poverty rates in Vidalia.
A key finding is the stark gap between graduation rates and academic proficiency, especially at Ferriday High School, where nearly 90% graduate but only 16% are proficient in Geometry, suggesting graduation may not ensure college or career readiness. Chronic absenteeism emerges as a critical indicator, with high rates at Ferriday Lower Elementary School (23.4%) and Vidalia High School linked to lower performance, while schools like Ferriday Junior High (11.8%) show better results. The Concordia Education Center, a small alternative school with only 26 students, faces extreme challenges with just 5% proficiency in Math and Social Studies, highlighting the difficulty of achieving academic success in such settings.
Thank you for your feedback!