Summary:
In zip code 71302, there is one high school, Peabody Magnet High School, serving grades 9 through 12 in Alexandria, Louisiana, within the Rapides Parish school district.
Peabody Magnet High School enrolls 1,071 students and has a student-teacher ratio of 14.9, which is better than the state average. However, the school faces significant challenges. Its academic performance is well below both the district and state averages, with proficiency rates in Algebra I, English I, and Biology roughly 30 to 40 percentage points lower than the district. The school's state ranking has declined to the 12th percentile (287 out of 325 schools) for the 2025-2026 school year. The graduation rate is 81.6%, below the district rate of 87.9%, and the dropout rate of 4.5% is nearly double the district average. A very high 94.4% of students are economically disadvantaged, as indicated by free or reduced lunch eligibility.
Despite being a magnet school, Peabody Magnet High School underperforms relative to its high-performing district, which is rated 4 stars and ranks in the 76th percentile statewide. This disparity suggests that resources or effective practices within the district may not be fully reaching this school. While chronic absenteeism (21%) is higher than the district average, it is slightly better than the state average, indicating that attendance alone is not driving the low academic outcomes. The school likely requires significant wraparound support services to address the strong link between high poverty and low performance.
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