Summary:
Zip code 70541, serving the Grand Coteau area in Louisiana, is home to a single public elementary school, Grand Coteau Elementary School, which educates 269 students from Pre-Kindergarten through 4th grade as part of the St. Landry Parish school district.
Grand Coteau Elementary School presents a mixed picture of academic performance. The school's 4th grade cohort is a standout, achieving 71% proficiency in Mathematics and 78% in English Language Arts in the 2025-2026 school year, both exceeding state averages. However, this success contrasts sharply with the 3rd grade, where proficiency rates in Math (42%), ELA (47%), and Social Studies (34%) all fall well below state benchmarks. This suggests that while the school may have effective instruction in the upper grades, incoming 3rd graders face significant academic gaps. The school's overall state ranking has also taken a concerning turn, dropping from the 58th percentile (3-star rating) in 2024-2025 to the 35th percentile (2-star rating) in 2025-2026, likely driven by the struggling 3rd grade cohort.
Despite serving a high-poverty community (77.7% free/reduced lunch eligibility) and facing a chronic absenteeism rate of 31.4%—significantly higher than the state average of 22.5%—the school has demonstrated the ability to achieve strong results, particularly in 4th grade. The student-teacher ratio of 12.2:1 is favorable, suggesting smaller class sizes. The key takeaway for parents is that while Grand Coteau Elementary School has pockets of excellence, the recent ranking decline and the performance gap between 3rd and 4th grades are critical areas to investigate when considering the school's overall effectiveness.
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