Summary:
In zip code 70770, Pride, Louisiana, there are two schools serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade, both part of the East Baton Rouge Parish school district, which is ranked in the bottom third of districts statewide.
Northeast Elementary School is the standout performer in this area, serving grades PK-6 with 178 students. Despite a high poverty rate where over 86% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, the elementary school has shown remarkable improvement, jumping from the 16th percentile to the 44th percentile in state rankings over three years. It now outperforms both district and state averages in English Language Arts (71% proficiency) and nearly matches the state average in Mathematics (59% proficiency). In contrast, Northeast High School, serving grades 7-12 with 290 students, faces significant challenges. It consistently ranks in the bottom 20% of Louisiana high schools, with only 32% proficiency in Math and 48% in ELA, well below state averages. The high school also struggles with a 41.3% chronic absenteeism rate—nearly double the state average—and a graduation rate of just 76.2%.
The most striking finding is the dramatic performance gap between the two schools. While the elementary school is on a clear upward trajectory and beating district benchmarks, the high school is stagnant with deep engagement issues. Both schools share a common weakness in Social Studies, where proficiency rates are critically low (21% at the high school and 35% at the elementary school). Interestingly, the high school has a much lower student-teacher ratio (7.5:1) than the elementary school (13.2:1), yet its outcomes are far worse, suggesting the challenges at the high school level go beyond staffing and are rooted in student disengagement and systemic issues affecting older students in high-poverty communities.
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