Summary:
In zip code 71302, there is one middle school, Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School, serving grades 6 through 8 with 362 students in the Rapides Parish school district, a 4-star district ranked 28th in Louisiana.
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is a magnet school with a unique profile. While its state ranking has declined over three years to the 17th percentile, the school shows notable strengths in student engagement. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 10.2% is less than half the state average of 22.5%, and its dropout rate of 2.0% is also below the state average of 3.1%. Academically, the school's strongest subject is English Language Arts, with 57% of students proficient, though this is below the district's 77% and state's 70%. Math proficiency is 39%, and Social Studies is 33%, both significantly lower than district and state averages. The student-teacher ratio is a low 11.4:1, suggesting smaller class sizes.
A standout finding is the performance of 8th graders, who consistently outperform 6th and 7th graders across all subjects, with 64% proficient in ELA and 54% in Social Studies. This suggests students may catch up as they progress. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 97.51% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, which contextualizes the achievement gap compared to state averages. Despite this, the low absenteeism and dropout rates indicate strong student commitment, making the school a complex but potentially supportive environment for families prioritizing attendance and engagement over top test scores.
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