Summary:
This analysis examines four elementary schools in the 70812 zip code of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, serving grades PK through 5 (with one school extending to 8th grade), an area characterized by high poverty rates and stark performance disparities across its schools.
The standout school in this zip code is Forest Heights Academy of Excellence, which ranks in the 95th percentile statewide and earns a 5-star rating. It dramatically outperforms its peers with 87% math proficiency and 93% ELA proficiency, far exceeding district and state averages. Its chronic absenteeism rate of just 5.6% is remarkably low compared to the district average of 30.5%. In stark contrast, Merrydale Elementary School and Glen Oaks Park Elementary School are the lowest-performing schools, ranking in the bottom 20th percentile with 1-star ratings. Merrydale struggles with a 35.4% chronic absenteeism rate and proficiency rates well below state averages, while Glen Oaks Park has seen a rapid decline from the 55th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 18th percentile in 2025-2026. Lanier Elementary School A Redesign School, a charter school in the Lanier Charter School district, lacks state ranking and test score data but offers the lowest student-to-teacher ratio (8.6:1) in the area, a potential advantage for personalized learning.
A key takeaway is that socioeconomic status is not destiny: while all four schools serve high-poverty populations (70-94% free/reduced lunch), Forest Heights Academy proves high achievement is possible in this context. The strong link between chronic absenteeism and low performance suggests that addressing attendance could be a powerful lever for improvement at Merrydale and Glen Oaks Park. Additionally, grade-level patterns reveal that Glen Oaks Park shows improving ELA scores from 3rd to 5th grade, while Merrydale faces a sharp decline in math proficiency during the same period, pointing to specific instructional challenges.
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