Summary:
The two public schools in zip code 70445 (Lacombe, LA) are Chahta-Ima Elementary School (serving Pre-K through 3rd grade) and Bayou Lacombe Middle School (serving 4th through 6th grade), both part of the highly-rated St. Tammany Parish school district.
Chahta-Ima Elementary School stands out for its academic resilience, achieving strong proficiency rates in Math (63%) and English Language Arts (67%) despite serving a student population where over 65% qualify for free or reduced lunch. Its low student-teacher ratio of 11:1 supports individualized attention. Bayou Lacombe Middle School excels in English Language Arts, with 5th graders reaching an impressive 80% proficiency rate, and also performs above the state average in Social Studies (59%). However, both schools face challenges in Mathematics, consistently scoring below the district average across all grade levels. For instance, Bayou Lacombe's 5th graders scored just 56% in Math compared to the district average of 70%. Chronic absenteeism is a concern at both schools, with rates slightly above the state average (22.5%), at 23.9% for Chahta-Ima and 22.1% for Bayou Lacombe.
A key takeaway is the clear strength in English Language Arts across the entire PK-6 pipeline, contrasted with a systemic need for targeted math intervention. The low student-teacher ratios (under 11:1 at both schools) provide a powerful resource for small-group instruction to address this gap. Notably, Bayou Lacombe reported a 100% dropout rate for the 2021-2022 school year, which is almost certainly a data error for a middle school serving grades 4-6. Overall, these schools offer a strong foundation in literacy within a top-tier district, but families should be aware of the math performance gap and the potential for more focused support in that subject area.
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