Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 70737

This analysis examines five elementary schools in zip code 70737 (Gonzales, LA), all part of the highly-ranked Ascension Parish school district, serving grades PK through 5 with enrollments ranging from 455 to 626 students.

Central Primary School stands out as the consistent top performer, earning a 4-star rating for two consecutive years and boasting the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the area at just 2.4%, far below the district average of 11.6%. Pecan Grove Primary School shows the strongest upward trajectory, improving to the 74th percentile and achieving the highest single-grade proficiency score with 91% of 4th graders proficient in English Language Arts, despite having a relatively high free/reduced lunch rate of 69.09%. G. W. Carver Primary School demonstrated the most significant single-year improvement, jumping 8 percentile points from the 49th to the 57th percentile. The remaining schools—Duplessis Primary School and Gonzales Primary School—are tightly clustered in performance, with state percentiles of 56 and 61 respectively.

Key metrics reveal that English Language Arts proficiency (average 76.8%) consistently outpaces Mathematics proficiency (average 66.0%) across all schools, with Math scores showing more volatility year-over-year. The average student-teacher ratio is a favorable 12.0:1, and chronic absenteeism averages 10.88% across the area, though Central Primary's exceptional 2.4% rate suggests effective attendance strategies worth studying. The data challenges assumptions about socioeconomic barriers, as Pecan Grove outperforms schools with lower free/reduced lunch rates in several metrics, indicating that teaching quality and school culture play significant roles in student outcomes.