Lafayette Parish Had 13 A-Rated Schools, No F's in 2022

LAFAYETTE PARISH, La. (KPEL News) - The Lafayette Parish School System had 13 schools earn an "A" on the state's report card, according to the Louisiana Department of Education on Wednesday.

Led by Early College Academy, the district overall earned a "B" grade with an 84.8 school performance score, up from a simulated 81.6 in 2021 and 78.9 in 2019, the last year scores were released.

In 2020, there was no testing due to COVID-19 and the shutdown of the school systems across the state. In 2019, standardized testing did happen, but school scores were approximated due to districts re-opening at different paces, handling COVID-19 differently, and other factors.

Overall, according to state Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley, the state is seeing scores return to pre-pandemic levels.

"Returning our statewide performance score to its pre-pandemic level is reason to be thankful but we have a long way to go for Louisiana children," Brumley said.

The district's lowest-performing schools were J.W. Faulk Elementary and Alice N. Boucher Elementary, each earning a "D" rating.

But 13 schools total earned an "A" rating, according to the state report card.

Early College Academy

Credit: Early College Academy/Facebook

ECA was the highest-scoring school in the parish, picking up a 131.5 in school performance score. That is a slight dip from 2019, when the school earned 131.9. The school's score in 2022 was in the top ten among schools in the state.

Myrtle Place Elementary

Credit: Myrtle Place Elementary

Myrtle Place was overall the top-scoring elementary school in the parish, with an SPS of 105.2. The school was also named a Blue Ribbon school for its growth last year.

David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy

Credit: David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy

The district's only combination school, David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy was the third-highest performing school, picking up a score of 102.8, which is up 5 points from where it was in 2019. The magnet school serves students in grades 6-12.

Ernest Gallet Elementary School

Credit: LPSS

Ernest Gallet Elementary has also shown growth from 2019 to 2022. Their current score is 100.8, which is up from around 96 SPS in 2019.

Southside High School

Credit: KATC

Southside High School has shown a lot of growth since 2019. Their score three years ago was 85.2, but they have since jumped to 100.4, coming in at No. 5 overall in the district.