Summary:
Zip code 70467 is home to a single school, Varnado High School, a small combined middle and high school serving grades 6 through 12 with 256 students in the Washington Parish school district, where 82% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Varnado High School presents a mixed picture of performance. On the positive side, the school boasts a strong graduation rate of 90.5%, which exceeds both the district (83.2%) and state (85.0%) averages, and it shows a notable strength in Algebra I, with 76% of students proficient compared to the state average of 65%. However, the school faces significant challenges in overall math proficiency, with only 36% of students meeting standards versus 62% statewide, and chronic absenteeism is a concern at 26.9%, higher than the district and state rates. The school's state ranking has been stable over three years, placing it in the 40th percentile with a 2-star rating.
Key takeaways for parents include a clear disparity between subjects: English Language Arts proficiency (59%) is much closer to the state average (70%) than math, and End-of-Course exam results vary widely, from strong Algebra I and English I scores to weak Biology (33%) and U.S. History (45%) results. The school's low student-teacher ratio of 10.5:1 suggests smaller class sizes, which may support its ability to keep students on track to graduate despite below-average test scores. This combination of a high graduation rate and academic struggles indicates that while the school excels at student persistence, targeted improvements in math instruction and addressing chronic absenteeism could help boost overall achievement.
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