Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Summary:

Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is a public middle school located in Alexandria, Louisiana, serving grades 6-8 with a student population of 415. The school is part of the Rapides Parish school district, which is ranked 42 out of 122 districts in Louisiana and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Despite its "magnet" designation, Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School consistently underperforms the Rapides Parish and Louisiana state averages in both Mathematics and English Language Arts proficiency across all grade levels. For example, in 2023-2024, the school's Mathematics proficiency rate was 39% compared to the Rapides Parish and Louisiana averages of 61% and 59%, respectively. The school has a significantly higher percentage of African American students (over 95%) compared to the nearby schools, such as Tioga Junior High School, Pineville Junior High School, and Alexandria Middle Magnet School, which have more diverse racial compositions. Additionally, the school's performance on key student subgroups, such as African American students, Special Education students, and Low Socioeconomic Status students, is significantly lower than the state and district averages.

The extremely high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School, ranging from 62.79% to 94.94% over the past three school years, indicates a high level of economic disadvantage among the student population. This may be a contributing factor to the school's persistent academic challenges, as the nearby schools generally outperform Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School in academic metrics, school rankings, and student subgroup performance, despite serving similar student populations. The magnet school designation does not appear to be providing a clear academic advantage for the students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School, raising questions about the effectiveness of the magnet school model in this context.


Detail:

Public 6-8

 3100 Jones Street
       Alexandria, LA  71302


(318) 445-6241

District: Rapides Parish

SchoolDigger Rank:
313th of 449 Louisiana Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $13,402 Help


Students who attend Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School usually attend:

High:    Peabody Magnet High School

Feeder schools for Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School:

Elementary:    Acadian Elementary
    Alma Redwine Elementary
    Martin Park Elementary School
    Peabody Montessori Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio:  11.6 Help
Number of students:  415

Racial breakdown:

African American:
96.6%
White:
2.4%
Hispanic:
1.0%

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  91.8% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School ranks worse than 69.7% of middle schools in Louisiana. It also ranks 4th among 5 ranked middle schools in the Rapides Parish School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 32.69. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: African American (96.6%), White (2.4%), Hispanic (1%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 91.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Rapides Parish School District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is 11.6, which is the lowest among 6 middle schools in the Rapides Parish School District! (See more...)
Help
Compare Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School employs 35.5 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is $13,402, which is the 3rd highest among 5 middle schools in the Rapides Parish School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School:

SchoolDigger ranks Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School 313th of 449 Louisiana public middle schools. (See Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:


Rapides Parish:

SchoolDigger ranks Rapides Parish 42nd of 122 Louisiana school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

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Rank History for all students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2007 9.85 366th 396 7.6%
2008 12.97 375th 413 9.2%
2009 14.50 381st 425 10.4%
2010 19.30 366th 408 10.3%
2011 24.14 359th 412 12.9%
2012 11.14 405th 442 8.4%
2013 8.30 424th 457 7.2%
2014 17.62 402nd 470 14.5%
2015 21.25 398th 482 17.4%
2016 24.04 353rd 435 18.9%
2017 13.91 385th 437 11.9%
2018 7.18 392nd 411 4.6%
2019 14.88 388th 449 13.6%
2021 14.22 397th 459 13.5%
2022 11.90 414th 460 10.0%
2023 27.43 348th 465 25.2%
2024 32.69 313th 449 30.3%
See the entire list of Louisiana Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 16.97 188th 202 6.9%
2022 21.75 171st 206 17.0%
2023 29.66 151st 206 26.7%
2024 28.42 134th 175 23.4%
See the entire list of Best Louisiana Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 12.45 372nd 403 7.7%
2019 17.62 372nd 430 13.5%
2021 16.99 390th 455 14.3%
2022 12.20 421st 458 8.1%
2023 32.95 315th 459 31.4%
2024 37.54 281st 444 36.7%
See the entire list of Best Louisiana Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 16.62 372nd 418 11.0%
2021 12.89 391st 441 11.3%
2022 15.84 382nd 441 13.4%
2023 40.34 279th 444 37.2%
2024 33.92 297th 415 28.4%
See the entire list of Best Louisiana Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 19.69 147th 170 13.5%
See the entire list of Best Louisiana Middle Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 13.54 373rd 418 10.8%
2021 16.04 376th 442 14.9%
2022 11.79 395th 442 10.6%
2023 19.92 352nd 443 20.5%
2024 33.52 289th 426 32.2%
See the entire list of Best Louisiana Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools LA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 20.01 275th 313 12.1%
2019 28.17 252nd 338 25.4%
2021 26.41 267th 352 24.1%
2022 24.28 283rd 360 21.4%
2023 42.10 202nd 360 43.9%
2024 47.05 173rd 333 48.0%
See the entire list of Best Louisiana Middle Schools for African American Students!

Data source: test scores: Louisiana Dept of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Louisiana Dept of Education

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Enrollment information for Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1989 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 441 441
1990 217 227 9 0 0 n/a n/a 0 453
1991 223 237 6 0 0 n/a n/a 0 466
1992 228 233 4 2 0 n/a n/a 0 467
1993 210 252 2 0 0 n/a n/a 0 464
1994 159 235 6 0 0 n/a n/a 0 400
1995 181 214 12 2 1 n/a n/a 0 410
1996 181 214 12 2 1 n/a n/a 0 410
1997 150 245 8 1 10 n/a n/a 0 414
1998 158 239 10 0 11 n/a n/a 0 418
1999 134 238 19 2 4 n/a n/a 0 397
2000 113 223 13 2 1 n/a n/a 0 352
2001 118 228 13 2 0 n/a n/a 0 361
2002 29 539 1 1 1 n/a n/a 0 571
2003 29 539 1 1 1 n/a n/a 0 571
2004 18 541 3 2 2 n/a n/a 0 566
2005 24 569 4 0 1 n/a n/a 0 598
2006 12 457 1 0 2 n/a n/a 0 472
2007 13 486 0 1 3 n/a n/a 0 503
2008 8 522 1 1 2 n/a n/a 0 534
2009 5 445 1 2 2 n/a n/a 0 455
2010 4 463 0 1 3 n/a n/a 0 471
2011 7 435 0 1 3 0 0 0 446
2012 5 478 0 1 2 0 0 0 486
2013 2 433 0 0 1 0 1 0 437
2014 6 446 0 0 2 0 0 0 454
2015 7 433 0 0 0 0 0 0 440
2016 3 475 1 0 0 0 0 0 479
2017 9 521 1 0 0 0 2 0 533
2018 6 500 0 1 0 0 1 0 508
2019 4 315 0 0 0 0 0 0 319
2020 4 303 0 0 0 0 1 0 308
2021 7 317 1 0 0 0 4 0 329
2022 13 411 0 1 1 0 4 0 430
2023 9 400 0 4 1 0 1 0 415
2024 10 401 0 4 0 0 0 0 415

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 441 22.0 20.0 42.2
1990 453 24.0 18.8 63.1
1991 466 23.0 20.2 45.3
1992 467 23.0 20.3 51
1993 464 23.0 20.2 47.8
1994 400 26.0 15.4 59
1995 410 20.0 20.5 54.1
1996 410 20.0 20.5 54.1
1997 414 24.0 17.3 57.5
1998 418 22.0 19.0 59.1
1999 397 23.0 17.3 74.6
2000 352 23.0 15.3 77
2001 361 23.0 15.7 73.1
2002 571 36.0 15.9 85.1
2003 571 36.0 15.9 85.1
2004 566 33.0 17.2 90.1
2005 598 36.4 16.4 93.5
2006 472 33.2 14.2 92.6
2007 503 38.0 13.2 93.8
2008 534 41.0 13.0 94.9
2009 455 35.8 12.7 98.2
2010 471 39.4 11.9 97.2
2011 446 34.1 13.0 83.6
2012 486 33.1 14.6 93.8
2013 437 31.0 14.0 93.6
2014 454 29.3 15.4 95.2
2015 440 29.0 15.1 94.8
2016 479 30.0 15.9 95.6
2017 533 28.0 19.0 97.4
2018 508 29.0 17.5 93.1
2019 319 23.0 13.8 82.4
2020 308 23.0 13.3 83.8
2021 329 21.0 15.6 80.2
2022 430 23.0 18.6 62.8
2023 415 31.6 13.1 94.9
2024 415 35.5 11.6 91.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 441 22.0 20.0 42.2
1990 453 24.0 18.8 63.1
1991 466 23.0 20.2 45.3
1992 467 23.0 20.3 51
1993 464 23.0 20.2 47.8
1994 400 26.0 15.4 59
1995 410 20.0 20.5 54.1
1996 410 20.0 20.5 54.1
1997 414 24.0 17.3 57.5
1998 418 22.0 19.0 59.1
1999 397 23.0 17.3 74.6
2000 352 23.0 15.3 77
2001 361 23.0 15.7 73.1
2002 571 36.0 15.9 85.1
2003 571 36.0 15.9 85.1
2004 566 33.0 17.2 90.1
2005 598 36.4 16.4 93.5
2006 472 33.2 14.2 92.6
2007 503 38.0 13.2 93.8
2008 534 41.0 13.0 94.9
2009 455 35.8 12.7 98.2
2010 471 39.4 11.9 97.2
2011 446 34.1 13.0 83.6
2012 486 33.1 14.6 93.8
2013 437 31.0 14.0 93.6
2014 454 29.3 15.4 95.2
2015 440 29.0 15.1 94.8
2016 479 30.0 15.9 95.6
2017 533 28.0 19.0 97.4
2018 508 29.0 17.5 93.1
2019 319 23.0 13.8 82.4
2020 308 23.0 13.3 83.8
2021 329 21.0 15.6 80.2
2022 430 23.0 18.6 62.8
2023 415 31.6 13.1 94.9
2024 415 35.5 11.6 91.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2017 $8,864
2018 $9,518
2019 $13,278
2020 $13,851
2021 $14,521
2022 $13,402

Data source: Louisiana Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 388th of 449 Middle schoolsRanks 348th of 465 Middle schools
 11.6%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
7th Grade Mathematics (Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School)3940
 1%
   7th Grade Mathematics (Rapides Parish)6366
 3%
   7th Grade Mathematics (Louisiana)6158
 3%
7th Grade English Language Arts (Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School)5953
 6%
   7th Grade English Language Arts (Rapides Parish)7371
 2%
   7th Grade English Language Arts (Louisiana)7267
 5%
7th Grade Social Studies (Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School)2331
 8%
   7th Grade Social Studies (Rapides Parish)5856
 2%
   7th Grade Social Studies (Louisiana)5552
 3%
8th Grade Mathematics (Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School)3650
 14%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Rapides Parish)5659
 3%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Louisiana)5347
 6%
8th Grade English Language Arts (Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School)4968
 19%
   8th Grade English Language Arts (Rapides Parish)7677
 1%
   8th Grade English Language Arts (Louisiana)7170
 1%
8th Grade Social Studies (Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School)3838
   8th Grade Social Studies (Rapides Parish)6459
 5%
   8th Grade Social Studies (Louisiana)6453
 11%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students319415
 30.1%
African American315400
 27%
American Indian01
Asian00
Hispanic04
Pacific Islander00
White49
 125%
Two or More Races01
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients82.4%94.9%
 12.5%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School

In the 2023-24 school year, 415 students attended Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School.

Students at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School are 97% African American, 2% White.

Students who attend Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School usually go on to attend Peabody Magnet High School

Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School ranks 313th of 449 Louisiana middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Louisiana Dept of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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