St. Mary Parish

The St. Mary Parish school district in Louisiana serves 21 schools, including elementary, middle, high, and alternative schools, and is ranked 52nd out of 116 districts statewide with a 3-star rating.

The standout performers in the district are the three schools in the Berwick cluster. Berwick Elementary School is the top-ranked school in the parish, achieving a 4-star rating with 87% proficiency in Math and 80% in ELA, while also having the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 13.5%. Berwick Junior High School follows closely as a strong middle school, ranking in the 67th percentile with high proficiency across all subjects. Berwick High School is the top high school, excelling in End-of-Course exams like Biology and English II. In contrast, schools facing significant challenges include LaGrange Elementary School, which ranks in the 8th percentile with the lowest test scores and a 93% poverty rate, and Franklin Junior High School, which has the highest dropout rate at 2.9% and critically low ELA proficiency. W.P. Foster Elementary School also struggles with the highest chronic absenteeism rate at 35.4% and a 95.5% poverty rate.

Key metrics reveal a district with significant economic diversity, as the free/reduced lunch rate ranges from 54.58% at Berwick High to 95.5% at W.P. Foster, with an average of 76%. The district's graduation rate is strong at 92.7%, well above the state average, and the dropout rate is a low 1.0%. A notable bright spot is that several middle schools, including Morgan City Junior High School and B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School, report 100% proficiency in Algebra I. Patterson High School presents a paradox with the highest chronic absenteeism rate (39.4%) yet a 92.7% graduation rate and strong Biology scores. Centerville High School, the district's alternative school, maintains a low dropout rate of 0.6% with a very low student-teacher ratio of 10.1:1.