Summary:
In zip code 70003 (Metairie, LA), there are two public middle schools serving grades 6 through 8 within the Jefferson Parish school district: John Q. Adams Middle School and T.H. Harris Middle School.
John Q. Adams Middle School stands out as the stronger performer in this area. It holds a higher state ranking (360th out of 452 schools, 20th percentile) compared to T.H. Harris Middle School (390th, 14th percentile). Adams also shows better academic results, with higher proficiency rates in Mathematics (43% vs. 40%), English Language Arts (57% vs. 51%), and Social Studies (41% vs. 36%). Additionally, Adams has a significantly lower dropout rate (1.0% vs. 4.7%) and lower chronic absenteeism (22.9% vs. 25.2%). However, both schools face challenges, as their overall test scores fall below district and state averages in core subjects.
A key finding is a sharp decline in 8th-grade math proficiency at both schools, dropping from around 50% in 7th grade to just 25-28% in 8th grade—a steeper drop than the state average. Both schools also struggle with chronic absenteeism rates at or above the state average of 22.5%. Interestingly, students in advanced courses at both schools perform exceptionally well, with 92% proficiency in high school-level English I and Algebra I, far exceeding district averages. While T.H. Harris Middle School has a lower student-teacher ratio (13.9 vs. 16.2), it still underperforms Adams, suggesting that socioeconomic factors—reflected in its higher free/reduced lunch rate (66.79% vs. 55.93%)—play a significant role in the performance gap.
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