Summary:
Zip code 70584, covering Cankton and Sunset, Louisiana, is home to three public schools within the St. Landry Parish school district, serving a combined 1,065 students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade with no high school options in the immediate area.
The standout school in this area is Ecole Saint-Landry, a high-performing elementary school that earned a 4-star rating and ranks in the 80th percentile statewide. It dramatically outperforms its local peers, with proficiency rates of 76% in Math, 89% in ELA, and 67% in Social Studies—all well above state averages. In contrast, Sunset Middle School is the lowest-performing school in the zip code, earning just 1 star and ranking in the 17th percentile, with proficiency rates far below state averages. Cankton Elementary School sits in the middle, with a 2-star rating and consistent performance in the 39th to 55th percentile range over recent years. While all three schools serve a majority of students from low-income households, Ecole Saint-Landry has a notably lower free/reduced lunch rate (62%) compared to Cankton Elementary (83%) and Sunset Middle (81%), suggesting that factors beyond poverty are driving its success.
A key concern is the sharp decline at Sunset Middle, which has dropped from a 3-star rating to 1 star over three years, and its chronic absenteeism rate of 25.8% is above the state average. Meanwhile, Cankton Elementary stands out for its low chronic absenteeism rate of just 12.3%—nearly half the state average—and a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.9:1. Interestingly, even the high-performing Ecole Saint-Landry struggles with attendance, with a 26.2% chronic absenteeism rate. Overall, the data reveals a clear "middle school slump" in this area, where elementary students thrive but performance drops significantly once they reach Sunset Middle, highlighting a systemic challenge for the district.
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