St. Landry Parish

The St. Landry Parish school district in Louisiana serves approximately 10,500 students across 32 public schools, including 16 elementary, 9 middle, and 7 high schools, and is ranked 58th out of 116 parishes in the state with a 3-star rating.

The district's standout school is the Magnet Academy for Cultural Arts (MACA), a 5-star high school ranking in the top 6% of Louisiana high schools with a 0% dropout rate and dramatically higher test scores than both district and state averages. Another top performer is Krotz Springs Elementary School, which achieved 100% proficiency in 8th-grade math and English. Among traditional high schools, Eunice High School leads with a 91.5% graduation rate and strong End-of-Course exam results. In contrast, Opelousas Senior High School (1-star) has the district's lowest graduation rate at 68.3% and highest chronic absenteeism at 52.9%, while Opelousas Junior High School is the lowest-ranked school in the district (0-star) with only 27% math proficiency. North Central High School (0-star) also struggles with a 5.7% dropout rate and critically low test scores.

Key metrics reveal a district facing significant challenges: the average free/reduced lunch rate is 79%, chronic absenteeism averages 31.2% (well above the state's 22.5%), and the graduation rate is 78.7% versus the state average of 85%. However, several high-poverty schools defy expectations, such as Palmetto Elementary School (82.5% free/reduced lunch) which is a 4-star school with 81% ELA proficiency, and Port Barre Elementary School (73.8% free/reduced lunch) which is also a 4-star school. The district's strongest subject is English Language Arts (67% proficiency), while Social Studies is the weakest (45% proficiency). A clear "feeder pattern" disparity exists, with high-performing schools like Port Barre Elementary feeding into solid middle and high schools, while struggling schools like Grolee Elementary and Northeast Elementary feed into the lowest-performing Opelousas pipeline.