Summary:
Zip code 71418, covering Columbia, Louisiana, is home to a single high school, Caldwell Parish High School, which serves grades 9 through 12 with a total enrollment of 398 students. This school is part of the Caldwell Parish school district, which ranks in the 22nd percentile statewide and holds a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school has a relatively low student-teacher ratio of 11.2, and a majority of its students (63.57%) qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high level of economic need in the community.
Academically, Caldwell Parish High School consistently trails state averages across all core subjects. For the 2025-2026 school year, proficiency rates range from 34% in U.S. History to 59% in English I, compared to state averages of 55% and 66%, respectively. The school’s state ranking has fluctuated, moving from the 28th percentile in 2023-2024 to a brief improvement at the 33rd percentile in 2024-2025, before dropping back to the 24th percentile for 2025-2026. A notable paradox exists between a perfect 0% dropout rate for the 2023-2024 school year—far better than the state average of 3.1%—and a very high chronic absenteeism rate of 34.9%, which significantly exceeds the state average of 22.5%.
This contrast suggests that while the school is effective at keeping students enrolled, a large portion of them are not attending class regularly, which likely drives the low academic performance. The school’s test scores are identical to the district’s averages, confirming that Caldwell Parish High School is the sole high school in the district and its challenges directly reflect the district’s low ranking. Despite a favorable student-teacher ratio that could allow for more individualized attention, the school has not translated this into higher achievement, pointing to deeper issues with student engagement and instructional effectiveness rather than class size alone.
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