Summary:
Zip code 70041, serving the Buras area of Louisiana, is home to a single school, South Plaquemines High School, which educates 355 students in grades 7 through 12 as part of the highly-rated Plaquemines Parish school district.
South Plaquemines High School presents a compelling paradox: it is a high-performing school that consistently exceeds state averages in core subjects like Math (72% proficient vs. 62% state) and English Language Arts (79% vs. 70%), and boasts a strong 90.9% graduation rate. However, this academic success is sharply contrasted by a severe chronic absenteeism rate of 42.9%—nearly double the state average. The school serves a high-poverty community, with over 75% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, yet it outperforms expectations. Its very low student-teacher ratio of 9.4:1 likely contributes to its ability to achieve above-average test scores, as small class sizes allow for personalized attention. The school has also shown notable year-over-year improvement, with Math proficiency jumping from 58% to 72% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.
While the school excels overall, performance can be uneven across specific courses. For example, English I proficiency was 75% (well above the state's 66%), but English II proficiency was only 52% (well below the state's 67%). Social Studies proficiency sits exactly at the state average of 55%. The school's dropout rate of 2.5% is lower than the state's 3.1%, and its district ranks in the 80th percentile statewide. The extreme disconnect between high achievement and high absenteeism is the most critical finding, suggesting that while present students thrive, a large portion of the student body is missing significant instructional time, which could threaten long-term success.
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