The LaSalle Parish School System continues to prove they are one of the top performing districts in the state with last week’s release of the District and School Performance Scores by the Louisiana Department of Education.
Overall, LaSalle improved their District Performance Score (DPS) by 1.1 points, increasing from 83.5 to 84.6, earning a B status. They were ranked 23rd out of 70 districts statewide.
LaSalle Superintendent Jon Garrett noted that he is extremely proud of the DPS, noting the hard work administrators, educators, students and even former employees contributed to the improvement.
“We are extremely proud of the work that was done and the high bar that has been set,” Garrett said. “It gives us extra motivation to make sure we continue on this upward progression in providing our students with the highest possible education in the state.”
The Superintendent noted there are 10 components that are compiled to reach the DPS.
“I am very proud that our district went up in seven of the ten components,” he said.
In the K-8 Assessment Index, LaSalle increased by 1.1 points, from 67 to 68.1; In the 9-12 Assessment Index, LaSalle increased by 3.8 points, from 54.4 to 58.2; In the K-8 Progress Index, LaSalle increased by .3 points, from, 91.7 to 92; In the Dropout Credit Accumulation Index, LaSalle increased 1.5 points, from 129.3 to 130.8; In the K-8 Interests and Opportunities Index, LaSalle increased 15.8 points, from 102.7 to 118.5; In the Strength of Diploma Index, LaSalle increased 2.8 points, from 102.9 to 105.7; and In the Graduation Rate Index, LaSalle increased 13 points, from 118 to 131. The three indexes that showed a decrease were 9-12 Progress Index, down 3 points, from 61.3 to 58.3; ACT Index, down 4.9 points, from 76.6 to 71.7; and 9-12 Interests and Opportunities Index, down 31.5 points, from 150 to 118.5.
INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL SCORES
It was the individual school scores that helped earn the district their B rating and the highest earning school in the parish was LaSalle High School (LHS).
In fact, LaSalle High had such a dramatic increase from the previous year they were recognized as the sixth most improved high school in the entire state.
LHS had a 2023 School Performance Score (SPS) of 96.1 which translated to a letter grade of “A.”
They improved their score from 2022 by 10.5 points, going from 85.6 to 96.1 in 2023.
“What an incredible achievement everyone at LaSalle High School had with that phenomenal growth in one year,” Garrett noted. “I am extremely grateful for all of the efforts that the administrators, educators and students did last year to achieve this momentous growth and ranking. It will be a fun challenge to keep that going.”
LaSalle High was also recognized as an Opportunity Honoree School, an award that is earned when a school performs at the 90th percentile or above for students with disabilities and/or economically disadvantaged students.
“This means that they showed growth in all student sub-groups, a great achievement,” the Superintendent noted.
Other schools and their scores/letter grades that showed improvement included: Good Pine Middle School improved by 7 points, from 73.6 to 80.6, and going from a C to a B SPS school.
Jena Elementary School improved by 6.6 points, from 74.5 to 81.1, and going from a C to a B SPS school.
Fellowship Elementary School improved by 5.3 points, from 76.8 to 82.1, maintaining their B SPS grade.
LaSalle Junior High School improved by 3.7 points, from 81 to 84.7, maintaining their B SPS grade.
Jena Junior High School improved by .5 points, from 77.8 to 78.3, maintaining their B SPS grade.
Six schools in the parish were honored as a Top Gains school. They included Fellowship, Good Pine, Jena Elementary, Jena Junior, Nebo Elementary and LaSalle Junior.
The parish did have three schools in decline, with the school with the greatest decline being Nebo Elementary.
In 2022, Nebo had a score of 75.1 and a letter grade of B while in 2023, they dropped 5.9 points to a score of 69.2 and a letter grade of C.
Jena High School also declined, going from a score of 93.3 in 2022 to a score of 89 in 2023, a difference of 4.3 points. This lead to them dropping a letter grade from an A to a B.
Olla Elementary School was the third school in the parish that saw their scores decrease, going from a score of 75.4 in 2022 to a score of 72.6 in 2023, a difference of 2.8 points. The small difference was not enough to see their letter grade drop as they maintained a B rating.
Garrett said that district-wide, moral is high among teachers and students and with the great news provided by the released scores, it should provide plenty of motivation to keep moving forward.
“It’s the big picture that we’re looking at,” he said. “With all of our new courses, including STEM opportunities that allow students to be interactive with hands on instruction, it has provided the injection of enthusiasm among students and teachers alike that we’ve been desiring.”
He noted that with students excited about attending school and the new opportunities for them, they are seeing attendance rates increase.
“The more time that we can get them in the classroom with our quality educators the higher they will achieve,” Garrett said. “When you increase their classroom time combined with our teachers, only good things are going to happen.”
The Superintendent concluded, “the table is set and there are no limits to what can be accomplished in the LaSalle Parish School District.”
