Iberia Parish

The Iberia Parish school district in Louisiana serves approximately 10,000 students across 22 public schools, including 14 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 5 high schools, and is ranked 30th out of 116 parishes in the state with a 4-star rating.

For parents, the standout schools in the district are Delcambre Elementary School and Loreauville Elementary School, which consistently achieve top test scores and have the lowest chronic absenteeism rates in the parish—9.2% and 8.3%, respectively. Delcambre Elementary boasts a perfect 100% proficiency in 3rd-grade math and 90% in English Language Arts, while Loreauville Elementary posts 89% math and 84% ELA proficiency. At the high school level, Loreauville High School leads with an 87th percentile ranking, a low dropout rate of 1.5%, and strong End-of-Course exam scores, particularly in Algebra I (84%) and Geometry (81%). In contrast, schools like Park Elementary School and Johnston Hopkins Elementary School face significant challenges, ranking in the 25th and 26th percentiles respectively, with chronic absenteeism rates above 30% and very low proficiency in core subjects like Social Studies, where Johnston Hopkins scores just 29%. Westgate High School is the lowest-ranked high school, sitting in the 16th percentile with a 4.1% dropout rate and 36.9% chronic absenteeism.

A key takeaway is the strong link between poverty and performance: top schools like Delcambre and Loreauville have free/reduced lunch rates between 45-60%, while struggling schools like Park Elementary (95.23%) and Johnston Hopkins (94.86%) have rates above 85%. Chronic absenteeism is a critical issue, with the district average at 22.3%, but ranging from 8.3% at Loreauville Elementary to 36.9% at Westgate High. Interestingly, New Iberia Senior High School performs relatively well despite being the largest school in the main city, ranking in the 73rd percentile and outperforming district and state averages in all End-of-Course subjects. Social Studies is a universal weakness across the district, with even high-performing schools seeing a drop in this subject, pointing to a need for curriculum improvement.