Summary:
This analysis examines three middle schools in the 70570 zip code of Opelousas, Louisiana, serving grades 5 through 8 with a combined enrollment of 652 students, all part of the St. Landry Parish school district, which holds a 3-star rating and ranks in the 50th percentile statewide.
Plaisance Middle School is the standout performer in the area, earning a 2-star rating and ranking 284th out of 452 schools in Louisiana. It is the only school to meet the state average in English Language Arts (ELA) with a 70% proficiency rate, and its 5th-grade ELA proficiency of 81% exceeds the state average by 8 points. In contrast, Opelousas Junior High School is the most challenged, with a 0-star rating, ranking in the bottom 6th percentile (424 out of 452). It has the highest poverty rate (92.99% free/reduced lunch), the highest chronic absenteeism rate (42.3%), and the highest dropout rate (2.8%) among the three. Creswell Middle School serves only 5th and 6th graders and falls in the middle, with a high poverty rate (88.27%) and a chronic absenteeism rate of 27.4%, but it shows a notable strength in 6th-grade Mathematics.
Key findings reveal a poverty-achievement paradox: while all schools serve high-poverty populations, Plaisance significantly outperforms Opelousas Junior High, suggesting factors like school leadership and teaching quality make a difference. Chronic absenteeism is a critical issue, with all three schools exceeding the state average of 22.5%, and Opelousas Junior High's rate of 42.3% is nearly double that of Plaisance (25.3%). Additionally, a concerning grade-level performance drop occurs at Opelousas Junior High, where math proficiency falls from 35% in 7th grade to 21% in 8th grade. Notably, Creswell has the most favorable student-to-teacher ratio (8:1) but still performs below state averages, highlighting that smaller class sizes alone do not guarantee success.
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