High Schools in Natchitoches Parish

The two high schools in the Natchitoches Parish district—Natchitoches Central High School and Lakeview Junior/Senior High School—serve a rural area with high poverty rates, but they offer very different academic experiences for families to consider.

Natchitoches Central High School is the clear academic leader in the parish. With 1,188 students in grades 9-12, it ranks in the 56th percentile statewide and achieves strong results across all End-of-Course exams, including 69% proficiency in Algebra I and 71% in English II. Its graduation rate is an excellent 94.1%, well above state averages. However, the school struggles with chronic absenteeism at 23.4%, which is higher than the state average. In contrast, Lakeview Junior/Senior High School is a much smaller school (261 students, grades 7-12) with a more favorable student-teacher ratio of 8.5:1 and a remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of just 12.8%. Despite these advantages, Lakeview’s test scores lag significantly behind, with only 53% proficiency in Algebra I and 38% in U.S. History, and its state ranking sits in the 32nd percentile.

The most striking takeaway is the "attendance vs. achievement" paradox: Lakeview gets students to class but struggles to translate that into academic gains, while Natchitoches Central achieves high scores despite a significant attendance problem. Both schools serve high-poverty populations (over 90% free/reduced lunch), but Natchitoches Central’s performance suggests effective teaching and leadership, while Lakeview’s volatile scores and declining ranking indicate deeper academic challenges. The district’s strong overall ranking (82nd percentile) is largely driven by Natchitoches Central, highlighting a wide gap in outcomes between the two schools within the same parish.