Beta You're viewing our redesigned school page. Prefer the classic layout?

Ponchatoula Junior High School

Public Grades 7-8
343rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 447 Louisiana Middle Schools
Better than 23% of Louisiana middle schools
Summary

Ponchatoula Junior High School is a public middle school serving grades 7-8 in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, with 747 students. The school is part of the Tangipahoa Parish school district, which is ranked 87 out of 118 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Ponchatoula Junior High School consistently underperforms the Tangipahoa Parish and Louisiana state averages in both Math and English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency across all grades. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's Math proficiency rate was 45% compared to 47% for the parish and 60% for the state, while its ELA proficiency rate was 54% compared to 58% for the parish and 70% for the state. The school also has consistently higher dropout rates, ranging from 3.3% to 6.7% in recent years, compared to the state average of around 1-2%, and very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 21.9% to 37.7%.

Ponchatoula Junior High School underperforms most of the nearby schools in the St. Tammany Parish district, such as Folsom Junior High School and Madisonville Junior High School, which have significantly higher Math and ELA proficiency rates, lower dropout rates, and lower chronic absenteeism. The school's performance has also been declining over the past several years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 189 out of 435 middle schools in 2015-2016 to 343 out of 447 in 2024-2025, and its overall SchoolDigger rating decreasing from 3 stars to 1 star.

723
Students ?
14.1
Student/teacher ratio ?
$13,433
Per pupil spending ?
66.8%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 315 East Oak Street
       Ponchatoula, LA  70454

(985) 370-5322

District: Tangipahoa Parish


Students who attend Ponchatoula Junior High School usually attend:

High:    Ponchatoula High School

Feeder schools for Ponchatoula Junior High School:

Elementary:    D.C. Reeves Elementary School
    Perrin Early Learning Center
    Tucker Memorial Elementary School
Racial breakdown:

White:
43.0%
African American:
40.2%
Hispanic:
11.2%
more
 See top rated Louisiana middle schools

 Compare Ponchatoula Junior High School to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 61st percentile in 2015 → 23rd in 2025
Worth a look
!In the lower quartile statewide (23rd percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (31% vs 22% Louisiana)
!Ranking has slipped — down 38 percentile points since 2015
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school66%
District avg53%
Louisiana avg66%
343rd of 447
Louisiana public middle schools ?
Bottom 23%▼ down 38 pts since 2015
From top 39% (2015) to bottom 23% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Louisiana Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
3rd of 6Middle Schools in the Tangipahoa Parish
87th of 118Tangipahoa Parish among Louisiana districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202526.8343 of 44723.3%★☆☆☆☆
202434.4304 of 44932.3%★★☆☆☆
202340.5281 of 46539.6%★★☆☆☆
202240.6281 of 46038.9%★★☆☆☆
202144.2259 of 45943.6%★★☆☆☆
201943.7269 of 44940.1%★★☆☆☆
201833.7279 of 41132.1%★★☆☆☆
201753.5226 of 43748.3%★★☆☆☆
201658.6189 of 43556.6%★★★☆☆
201560.5189 of 48260.8%★★★☆☆
201464.1165 of 47064.9%★★★☆☆
201356.8201 of 45756.0%★★★☆☆
201256.1205 of 44253.6%★★★☆☆
201149.6249 of 41239.6%★★☆☆☆
201049.2239 of 40841.4%★★☆☆☆
200962.0180 of 42557.6%★★★☆☆
200863.7162 of 41360.8%★★★☆☆
200760.8176 of 39655.6%★★★☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202519.1300 of 34412.8%★☆☆☆☆
202430.2249 of 33325.2%★☆☆☆☆
202335.9230 of 36036.1%★★☆☆☆
202236.9221 of 36038.6%★★☆☆☆
202134.0230 of 35234.7%★★☆☆☆
201928.7250 of 33826.0%★☆☆☆☆
201842.8190 of 31339.3%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202554.315 of 5673.2%★★★★☆
202443.429 of 4839.6%★★☆☆☆
202248.121 of 4856.3%★★★☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202535.8276 of 41533.5%★★☆☆☆
202438.4273 of 41534.2%★★☆☆☆
202344.1262 of 44441.0%★★☆☆☆
202240.1282 of 44136.1%★★☆☆☆
202134.0305 of 44130.8%★★☆☆☆
201947.9229 of 41845.2%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202535.1112 of 15527.7%★☆☆☆☆
202432.7108 of 15228.9%★☆☆☆☆
202317.8140 of 16314.1%★☆☆☆☆
202222.3134 of 16317.8%★☆☆☆☆
202119.4130 of 15315.0%★☆☆☆☆
201953.961 of 12852.3%★★★☆☆
201837.982 of 11830.5%★★☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202252.812 of 2958.6%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202519.3373 of 43714.6%★☆☆☆☆
202424.1357 of 44419.6%★☆☆☆☆
202328.9335 of 45927.0%★☆☆☆☆
202230.5321 of 45829.9%★★☆☆☆
202136.0291 of 45536.0%★★☆☆☆
201935.5300 of 43030.2%★★☆☆☆
201841.2262 of 40335.0%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202524.0327 of 41421.0%★☆☆☆☆
202430.8301 of 42629.3%★☆☆☆☆
202337.3279 of 44337.0%★★☆☆☆
202240.9261 of 44241.0%★★☆☆☆
202151.9211 of 44252.3%★★★☆☆
201937.9268 of 41835.9%★★☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202538.529 of 4129.3%★★☆☆☆
202413.737 of 395.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202325.553 of 6315.9%★☆☆☆☆
202227.449 of 5815.5%★☆☆☆☆
202136.540 of 5729.8%★★☆☆☆
201933.935 of 4928.6%★★☆☆☆
201843.122 of 3333.3%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202433.6120 of 17531.4%★★☆☆☆
202330.2148 of 20628.2%★☆☆☆☆
202225.1156 of 20624.3%★☆☆☆☆
202128.3160 of 21023.8%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankLouisiana percentileRating
202522.3273 of 31613.6%★☆☆☆☆
202438.3219 of 32031.6%★★☆☆☆
202335.3252 of 35228.4%★☆☆☆☆
202235.2256 of 36229.3%★☆☆☆☆
202142.4224 of 35837.4%★★☆☆☆
201940.0233 of 35033.4%★★☆☆☆
201843.2205 of 33839.3%★★☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
English Language Learner (2025)73rd percentile+50 vs school
Homeless (2022)59th percentile+20 vs school
Female (2025)33rd percentile+10 vs school
Special Education (2024)31st percentile~ school
Multi-racial (2025)29th percentile+6 vs school
Hispanic (2025)28th percentile+4 vs school
Male (2025)21st percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)15th percentile-9 vs school
White (2025)14th percentile-10 vs school
African American (2025)13th percentile-10 vs school
By subject vs Louisiana (2024-2025) ?
English I99%+30 vs state
English Language Arts54%-16 vs state
Mathematics45%-15 vs state

No ratings yet
Be the first to rate Ponchatoula Junior High School and help other families decide.
Rate Ponchatoula Junior High School
Have first-hand experience? A quick rating - and a sentence or two about what stands out (teachers, academics, safety, communication) - helps other families know what to expect.
Takes about a minute. We email you a link to verify your review - your address is never shown publicly.
Tap a star to rate
Reviews
No written reviews yet. If you know this school, be the first to share what stands out.



Schools Near Ponchatoula Junior High School









Frequently Asked Questions about Ponchatoula Junior High School

Students at Ponchatoula Junior High School are 43% White, 40% African American, 11% Hispanic, 4% Two or more races, 1% Asian.

Ponchatoula Junior High School ranks in the bottom 23.3% of Louisiana middle schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 723 students attended Ponchatoula Junior High School.

Students who attend Ponchatoula Junior High School usually go on to attend Ponchatoula High School


Rate Ponchatoula Junior High School!



Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when there is an update for Ponchatoula Junior High School!




SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Louisiana Dept of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





Diagnostics

None retrieved from Database in 254 milliseconds.