Elementary Schools in Lafayette Parish

There are 25 elementary schools in the Lafayette Parish school district, serving grades from Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade, with the district itself earning a 4-star rating and ranking in the 77th percentile statewide.

The standout school in the district is Myrtle Place Elementary School, which ranks 8th in the state with near-perfect academic scores (99% Math, 93% ELA) and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at just 5.2%. Other top 5-star performers include Milton Elementary School, which serves the largest student body (1,261 students) while achieving 91% Math and 92% ELA proficiency, and L. Leo Judice Elementary School, ranked 14th in the state with particular strength in Social Studies (91% proficiency). Green T. Lindon Elementary School also consistently earns a 5-star rating with strong scores across all subjects. On the other end, schools like Alice N. Boucher Elementary School and J.W. Faulk Elementary School face significant challenges, with the highest rates of students receiving free/reduced lunch (94.34%) and chronic absenteeism (39.3% and 43.0%, respectively), resulting in critically low academic scores.

A key takeaway is the strong link between poverty, absenteeism, and performance, as schools with the highest free/reduced lunch rates consistently show the lowest proficiency. However, Myrtle Place Elementary proves that excellence is possible even with a moderate poverty rate (30.21%), suggesting school culture and leadership play a vital role. Interestingly, student-teacher ratio is not a reliable predictor of success, as Dr. Raphael A. Baranco Elementary School has the lowest ratio (9.2) but is one of the lowest-performing, while L. Leo Judice Elementary has the highest ratio (29.2) but excels. Additionally, Ernest Gallet Elementary School shows a concerning downward trend, dropping from a 5-star to a 4-star rating in one year, warranting further investigation.