Summary:
Zip code 70047 (Destrehan, LA) is home to one middle school, Harry M. Hurst Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 and is part of the high-performing St. Charles Parish school district, ranked 12th out of 116 districts in Louisiana.
Harry M. Hurst Middle School is a standout academic leader, consistently ranking in the top 20% of Louisiana middle schools for three consecutive years, with a 2025-2026 state ranking of 93rd out of 452 schools (79th percentile, 4-star rating). The school excels across all subjects, with overall proficiency rates well above state averages: 84% in Mathematics (state: 62%), 76% in English Language Arts (state: 70%), and 72% in Social Studies (state: 55%). A favorable student-teacher ratio of 10.8:1 supports smaller class sizes, and the school serves a relatively less economically disadvantaged population, with 41.31% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch. Notably, the school demonstrates exceptional student engagement, with a chronic absenteeism rate of just 5.7% (state: 22.5%) and a dropout rate of 0.4% (state: 3.1%), indicating a highly supportive and connected school culture.
While the school performs strongly overall, two key areas stand out. First, there is a notable "8th grade slump" in math, with proficiency dropping from 87% in 6th grade and 86% in 7th grade to 74% in 8th grade, suggesting that advanced math concepts present a specific challenge. Second, English Language Arts is a relative weakness, with a proficiency rate of 76% that is only 6 points above the state average, compared to much larger gaps in math and social studies. Within the district, the school outperforms in Math (84% vs. 82%) and Social Studies (72% vs. 65%) but slightly underperforms in ELA (76% vs. 78%), confirming its role as a leading school in STEM and social studies within an already excellent district.
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