Summary:
The city of Start, Louisiana has only one school serving grades PK-8, Start Elementary School. With a total enrollment of 318 students, the school's academic performance lags behind the Richland Parish district and the state of Louisiana across key metrics like mathematics, English language arts, and social studies proficiency.
Start Elementary School's mathematics proficiency rates are lower than the district and state averages, with an overall rate of 47% in 2023-2024 compared to 45% for Richland Parish and 59% for Louisiana. The school's English language arts proficiency is also below the district and state, but the gap is smaller. Socially, Start Elementary's proficiency rates are significantly lower than the state average, at 28% in 2022-2023 compared to 49% for Louisiana. These academic challenges have contributed to the school's declining statewide ranking, from 594th out of 727 Louisiana elementary schools in 2021-2022 to 434th out of 675 in 2023-2024, and its 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.
The high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (55.66%) at Start Elementary suggests the school serves a population with relatively low socioeconomic status, which may be a contributing factor to the academic performance issues. Additionally, the school's student population is predominantly White (72.01%) with a significant African American population (24.53%), indicating a need to examine the experiences and outcomes of different racial groups within the school.
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