Ferriday Upper Elementary School

Ferriday Upper Elementary School in Ferriday, LA, serves 242 students in grades 3 through 5 within the Concordia Parish school district, where over 93% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, reflecting significant socioeconomic challenges in the area.

Academically, Ferriday Upper Elementary consistently ranks in the bottom 20% of Louisiana elementary schools, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger and a statewide percentile of just 10th in the 2025-2026 school year. This performance is starkly lower than its nearby in-district peer, Vidalia Upper Elementary School, which ranks in the 50th percentile despite being only 9 miles away. For example, only 42% of Ferriday students were proficient in English Language Arts, compared to 70% at Vidalia Upper Elementary, and just 27% were proficient in Social Studies versus 52% at Vidalia. Even Jonesville Elementary School in the neighboring Catahoula Parish district outperforms Ferriday, with 69% proficiency in English Language Arts. Interestingly, Ferriday has a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.4:1 and a relatively low chronic absenteeism rate of 12.9%, suggesting that smaller class sizes and attendance are not the primary drivers of the performance gap.

Despite these challenges, there are notable bright spots. Ferriday Upper Elementary excels in 4th-grade mathematics, where 68% of students were proficient in 2025-2026—above both the district and state averages—indicating a highly effective teacher or instructional strategy that could be replicated. Additionally, the school ranks in the 46th percentile for serving its Special Education students, its highest-performing subgroup, suggesting strong support programs. However, overall test scores have been declining, with math proficiency dropping from 54% in 2022-2023 to 46% in 2025-2026. These strengths provide a foundation for improvement, but the school needs a comprehensive strategy to address systemic challenges and reverse its downward trend.