Summary:
In zip code 70094, covering Avondale and Westwego, Louisiana, there are four elementary schools serving grades Pre-K through 5th or 8th, all part of the Jefferson Parish school district, which is ranked 66th out of 116 districts in the state.
The standout school in this area is Ray St. Pierre Academy for Advanced Studies, a high-performing 5-star school ranked 6th out of 690 elementary schools in Louisiana. It boasts exceptional test scores, with 95% of students proficient in math and 94% in social studies, far exceeding state averages. Its chronic absenteeism rate is remarkably low at 7.3%, and it serves a more diverse socioeconomic population with 45.76% of students receiving free/reduced lunch. In stark contrast, the other three schools—Emmett C. Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford, Lucille Cherbonnier School, and Isaac G Joseph Elementary School—are among the lowest-performing in the state, ranking in the bottom 15% with 0 or 1-star ratings. These schools struggle with chronic absenteeism rates between 27.5% and 38.4%, and have high poverty levels, with 79% to 86% of students on free/reduced lunch.
Key takeaways include a massive performance gap within the same zip code, driven largely by socioeconomic factors and attendance issues. While Emmett C. Gilbert shows some strength in advanced courses like Algebra I (95% proficiency), overall test scores remain low. Interestingly, Ray St. Pierre achieves top results despite having the highest student-teacher ratio (16.7), suggesting that factors like school culture and curriculum are more critical than class size alone. For families, this area presents a clear choice between a top-tier academy and significantly underperforming schools.
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