Central Schools Rank No. 3 in State In Unofficial Grades from State DOE

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — CENTRAL — Once again, students in the Central Community School System have demonstrated that they are among the top students in Louisiana based on school performance scores.  Statistics released this week show Central schools ranked No. 3 in the state. 

School letter grades were not released this year because of COVID. The numbers that were released showed Central is an A school district, one of only four in the state. West Feliciana was first and Zachary second.  It was the first time since the Zachary Community School District began that it did not rank No. 1 in the state.

Central schools Supt. Jason Fountain said, “I was very pleased with our scores when they came out!  We’ve endured 20 months of challenges.  In 2020-2021, there was no testing.  Our goal has been to have as much face-to-face classroom instruction as possible.  With everything going on, our teachers did an amazing job of keeping the students focused.”

Four of Central’s five schools scored high enough to be A schools — Bellingrath Hills Elementary (pre-K and K), Tanglewood Elementary (1st and 2nd), Central Intermediate School (3rd, 4th, and 5th), and Central High School (10th-12th).

Across the state, COVID affected different age groups differently, Dr. Fountain said.  In general, it seemed to be hardest on middle school students.  That was true in Central where Central Middle School (6th, 7th, and 8th) was the only school in the Central to score at the B school level.

A score of 90.0 or above would be an A, either for a school or a school system.  

Central Intermediate School has brought its score up significantly over the past three years — from 71.3 in 2018 to 90.2 in 2021.

Central High School scored high enough to be a solid A school at 97.9.

In fact, Central High’s outstanding scores were instrumental in giving the Central school system an overall A rating. The high school’s score includes graduation rates, assessment index, strength of diploma, and ACT index.

In fact, as a district, Central had the highest performing 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in Louisiana.

Once again this year, the Zachary school district achieved a slightly higher score than the Central  school district.  Zachary had a score of 93.3, compared to Central’s 91.9.

Fountain noted that out of the 69 school districts in the state, the top five school districts were all from the Capital area: 1-West Feliciana, 2-Zachary, 3-Central, 4-Ascension, and 5-Livingston.

“I’m really proud of our colleagues in the Capital area.  We work closely together and they all did a great job!” Dr. Fountain said.

PHOTO: Central High JROTC marching in the Central Christmas Parade, December 2021