Lucille Cherbonnier School

Lucille Cherbonnier School in Westwego, LA, serves 466 students in grades PK-8 within the Jefferson Parish school district, where 86% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage.

This school faces significant challenges, with a 0-star rating and academic performance consistently in the bottom 5-10% of Louisiana elementary schools over the past decade. Only 29% of students are proficient in Mathematics, compared to the district average of 54% and the state average of 62%. This is a stark contrast to nearby schools like Rudolph Matas School (71% proficient) and Ralph J. Bunche Elementary (70% proficient). Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 27.5% of students chronically absent in 2024-2025, far exceeding the district average of 21.5% and dramatically higher than high-performing nearby schools like Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies (2.1%) and St. Rose Elementary School (4.0%).

Despite these struggles, there are some positive signs. Chronic absenteeism improved from 38.8% to 27.5% in one year, and 7th grade Mathematics proficiency reached 50%, the highest for any grade at the school and much closer to the district average. The school also reports a low dropout rate of 1.0%, lower than the district (5.9%) and state (3.1%) averages. However, the performance gap widens in upper grades, with only 14% of 8th graders proficient in Mathematics compared to 52% statewide. A peer school, Emmett C. Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford, which serves a similar high-poverty population, performs better in several subjects, suggesting that targeted strategies could help improve outcomes at Lucille Cherbonnier.