Summary:
Zip code 71446 in Leesville, Louisiana, is home to two middle schools within the highly-rated Vernon Parish school district, serving grades 5 through 8 with a combined enrollment of nearly 800 students, the majority of whom come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Leesville Junior High School (grades 7-8) stands out for its exceptional Algebra I performance, with 93% of students scoring proficient—far exceeding state and district averages—and strong ELA results where 76% of students are proficient. However, this school faces a significant challenge with chronic absenteeism at 36.2%, a sharp increase from the lower grades. In contrast, Vernon Middle School (grades 5-6) boasts a much healthier attendance rate of 24.9% and leads in overall math proficiency at 58%, though it struggles notably in social studies with only 38% proficiency. The two schools present a clear trade-off: Vernon Middle excels in math and attendance, while Leesville Junior High shines in advanced math and reading but grapples with keeping students in class.
A key takeaway is the dramatic "absenteeism cliff" between 6th and 7th grade, suggesting a transition issue that parents should be aware of. Despite this, Leesville Junior High maintains a very low dropout rate of 0.6%, indicating strong student retention. The data also reveals a split in academic strengths: Vernon Middle is stronger in general math, while Leesville Junior High outperforms in ELA and social studies. For parents, this means choosing between a school with better foundational math and attendance (Vernon Middle) versus one with advanced academic opportunities and stronger reading scores (Leesville Junior High), with the understanding that the junior high's overall math proficiency for 8th graders (50%) lags behind the state average.
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