Summary:
Zip code 70529 in Duson, Louisiana, is home to four public schools within the Lafayette Parish school district, serving 1,827 students across three elementary schools and one middle school, with no high schools in the immediate area.
The standout school in the area is Ridge Elementary School, which is the only 4-star school in the zip code and ranks in the 86th percentile statewide. It leads in all core subjects (Math: 79%, ELA: 79%, Social Studies: 73%) and has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (20.6%), which is below the district average. In contrast, Charles M. Burke Elementary School, located less than a mile away, has the lowest overall proficiency in Math (68%) and ELA (66%). Duson Elementary School presents an interesting case: despite having the highest percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch (74.24%), it achieves the second-highest academic performance in the area, with Math (79%) and ELA (82%) proficiency rates well above district and state averages, and it also boasts the lowest student-to-teacher ratio (15.2:1). Judice Middle School faces the most significant challenges, with the highest chronic absenteeism rate (27.7%), the highest student-teacher ratio (23.3:1), and a declining state ranking, though its 8th-grade Social Studies score (68%) is a bright spot.
Overall, the area's schools average 72.5% proficiency in Math and 74.5% in ELA, outperforming state averages (62% and 70%, respectively). However, all four schools have chronic absenteeism rates above the state average of 22.5%, and the average free/reduced lunch rate is 65.4%, indicating a predominantly low-income student population. The data suggests that economic status is not a definitive predictor of performance, as Duson Elementary outperforms Charles M. Burke Elementary despite higher poverty rates, pointing to other factors like school leadership or lower student-teacher ratios as key drivers of success.
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