Summary:
Zip code 70359 is served by a single high school, H. L. Bourgeois High School, which educates students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the Terrebonne Parish school district. With an enrollment of 1,289 students, this school presents a mixed picture of performance and challenges that are important for parents to understand.
H. L. Bourgeois High School has experienced a notable decline in its state ranking over the past three years, dropping from a 4-star rating (95th percentile) to a 3-star rating (54th percentile) in the most recent school year. Despite this, the school shows academic strengths in English II and Geometry, where proficiency rates exceed state averages. The graduation rate stands at 86.0%, which is slightly above the state average of 85.0% and above the district average of 83.8%. However, the school struggles with a chronic absenteeism rate of 34.7%, which is significantly higher than both the district (26.7%) and state (22.5%) averages, and its dropout rate of 4.2% also exceeds state and district averages.
A key takeaway for parents is the paradox between the school's relatively strong graduation rate and its high chronic absenteeism. While many students are persisting to earn their diplomas, a large portion of the student body is missing substantial instructional time, which likely contributes to the declining test scores in core subjects like English I and Algebra I. The school serves a community with high economic need, as nearly 69% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. This context suggests that while H. L. Bourgeois High School effectively supports its most engaged students to graduation, addressing the disengagement and absenteeism of a significant segment of the student body is critical for improving overall academic performance and reversing the downward trend in state rankings.
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