Summary:
Zip code 71282, serving Tallulah, Louisiana, contains two public high schools—Madison High School (grades 8-12) and Christian Acres Alternative School (grades 6-12)—both part of the Madison Parish school district, which ranks in the bottom 3% of Louisiana districts and faces significant academic and socioeconomic challenges.
Madison High School is the area’s primary traditional high school, enrolling 280 students. It posts a graduation rate of 81.6% (below the state average of 85%) and a low dropout rate of 1.7%, but struggles with a 31% chronic absenteeism rate—well above the district and state averages. Academic proficiency varies widely by subject: Biology (51%) and Geometry (50%) are relative bright spots, while English I (26%) and U.S. History (31%) lag far behind state norms. The school serves a high-poverty population (88% free/reduced lunch) and benefits from a favorable student-teacher ratio of 7.8:1, yet this advantage does not translate into strong test scores, suggesting deeper systemic issues.
Christian Acres Alternative School, with only 56 students, serves a different role and shows stark contrasts. It has a catastrophic dropout rate of 22.2% (over seven times the state average) and extremely low proficiency—just 21% in English Language Arts and 7% in Social Studies. Surprisingly, its chronic absenteeism rate is a low 12.2%, indicating that students who attend are present consistently, yet the school still fails to keep them from dropping out or achieving academically. Both schools share a district-wide pattern of underperformance, with Madison High School showing inconsistent subject results that may point to uneven instructional effectiveness. For parents, the key takeaway is that while class sizes are small, the academic outcomes and attendance challenges in this area are severe, with Madison High School offering the more traditional path to graduation despite its struggles.
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