The results are in.
This week, the Louisiana Department of Education released scores from the state LEAP tests, which students in grades 3-8 and high school take each spring. The results show that students’ post-COVID rebound in math and science stalled last school year, but they’ve mostly made up lost ground in English.
Want to see how individual schools performed? Click here for a searchable database.
Statewide, 43% of students in grades 3-8 reached “mastery” or above, the cutoff score that state officials say indicates students are ready to advance to the next grade level. Just 31% of students hit that mark in math, and only 28% did so in science.
Below we’ve rounded up public schools in the New Orleans area with the highest percentages of students in grades 3-8 achieving mastery in math and English. We also ranked high school mastery rates, which combine student scores on six state tests: English I and II, algebra, geometry, biology and U.S. History.
This year we added a new set of lists: The top-performing schools where most of the students are economically disadvantaged— which we're calling overcoming-the-odds schools.
Under state guidelines, students fall into that category if they're eligible for food assistance for low-income families, Medicaid, reduced-price school meals or other assistance programs, or they are English learners, homeless or in state custody. For our lists, we included schools where the share of disadvantaged students exceeded the statewide rate in 2023-24, which was 72.5%.
Decades of research show that poverty and test scores are closely linked: Schools that serve more poor students tend to have lower scores.
In Louisiana, the correlation is striking. Just look at this year’s grades 3-8 math test. In the fifth of schools with the highest mastery rates, the median share of disadvantaged students was about 60%, according to a Times-Picayune | Advocate analysis. But in the fifth of schools with the lowest scores, the median disadvantaged rate was more than 90%.
Poverty often overlaps with other hardships— food insecurity, housing instability, health challenges and more— that can make showing up to school, much less preparing for a standardized test, exceptionally difficult. So schools that help disadvantaged students beat the odds deserve to be celebrated.
Included in the New Orleans area are the following parishes: Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist.
Most public schools are open to all students in their attendance zone or district. But some — such as magnet schools or those with specialized programs — admit students based on test scores, grades, or other criteria. Those schools are indicated with an asterisk.
Top 10 schools — English, grades 3-8 (overall)
1. Haynes Academy School for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: > 95%
1. Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: > 95%
2. Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy (Jefferson Parish)*: 95%
3.Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 94%
3. Lake Forest Elementary Charter School (Orleans Parish)*: 94%
4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 93%
5. The Willow School (Orleans Parish)*: 92%
6. Ruppel Academie Francaise (Jefferson Parish)*: 91%
7. Gretna No. 2 Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 91%
8. Ray St. Pierre Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 87%
9. Edward Hynes Charter School - Lakeview (Orleans Parish): 78%
10. Mandeville Middle School (now Gayle Sloan Middle School in St. Tammany Parish): 76%
Top 10 schools — English, grades 3-8 (overcoming the odds)
1. Lake Forest Elementary Charter School (Orleans Parish)*: 94%
2. J.F. Gauthier School (St. Bernard Parish): 61%
3. Chahta-Ima Elementary School (St. Tammany Parish): 57%
3. E. E. Lyon Elementary School (St. Tammany Parish): 57%
4. Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy (Jefferson Parish): 51%
4. R.K. Smith Middle School (St. Charles Parish): 51%
5. Alice M Harte Elementary Charter School (Orleans Parish): 49%
6. Arabi Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish): 48%
7. N.P. Trist Middle School (St. Bernard Parish): 46%
8. Carolyn Park Middle (St. Tammany Parish): 45%
8. South Plaquemines High School (Plaquemines Parish): 45%
8. Bayou Woods Elementary School (St. Tammany Parish): 45%
9. Audubon Charter Gentilly (Orleans Parish): 43%
9. Arlene Meraux Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish): 43%
9. Andrew Jackson Middle School (St. Bernard Parish): 43%
9. St. Bernard Middle School (St. Bernard Parish): 43%
9. Boothville-Venice Elementary School (Plaquemines Parish): 43%
10. Chalmette Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish): 42%
Top 10 schools — Math, grades 3-8 (overall)
1. Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies(Jefferson Parish)*: > 95%
1. Gretna No. 2 Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*:> 95%
1. Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: > 95%
2. Haynes Academy School for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 94%
3. Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy (Jefferson Parish)*: 89%
4. The Willow School (Orleans Parish)*: 85%
5. Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 83%
6. Lake Forest Elementary Charter School (Orleans Parish)*: 83%
7. Ray St. Pierre Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 74%
8. Tchefuncte Middle School (St. Tammany Parish): 72%
9. Ruppel Academie Francaise (Jefferson Parish)*: 70%
9. Belle Chasse Elementary School (Plaquemines Parish): 70%
10. Lake Harbor Middle School (St. Tammany Parish): 69%
Top 10 schools — Math, grades 3-8 (overcoming the odds)
1. Lake Forest Elementary Charter School (Orleans Parish)*: 83%
2. J.F. Gauthier School (St. Bernard Parish): 51%
3. E. E. Lyon Elementary School (St. Tammany Parish): 48%
4. Boothville-Venice Elementary School (Plaquemines Parish): 43%
5. St. Rose Elementary School (St. Charles Parish): 42%
6. Arabi Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish): 41%
7. Alice M Harte Elementary Charter School (Orleans Parish): 40%
8. Rudolph Matas School (Jefferson Parish): 37%
8. Chahta-Ima Elementary School (St. Tammany Parish): 37%
8. Raintree Elementary School (St. Mary Parish): 37%
8. Luling Elementary School (St. Charles Parish): 37%
9. Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy (Jefferson Parish): 33%
9. South Plaquemines High School (Plaquemines Parish): 33%
10. N.P. Trist Middle School (St. Bernard Parish): 32%
10. Bayou Woods Elementary School (St. Tammany Parish): 32%
Top 10 high schools (overall)
1. Benjamin Franklin High School (Orleans Parish)*: 95%
1. Haynes Academy School for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 95%
2. Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy (Jefferson Parish)*: 94%
3. The Willow School (Orleans Parish)*: 89%
4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)*: 80%
5. Belle Chasse High School (Plaquemines Parish): 60%
6. Mandeville High School (St. Tammany Parish): 59%
7. New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (New Orleans): 56%
8. Northshore High School (St. Tammany Parish): 54%
9. Fontainebleau High School (St. Tammany Parish): 52%
10. Destrehan High School (St. Charles Parish): 50%
Top 10 high schools (overcoming the odds)
1. Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy (Jefferson Parish): 44%
2. Chalmette High School (St. Bernard Parish): 37%
3. South Plaquemines High School (Plaquemines Parish): 36%
4. New Orleans Military & Maritime Academy (New Orleans Military & Maritime Academy): 29%
5. Edna Karr High School (Orleans Parish): 28%
6. Phoenix High School (Plaquemines Parish): 27%
7. Jefferson RISE Charter School (Jefferson Parish): 22%
8. McDonogh 35 Senior High School (Orleans Parish): 21%
8. JCFA-East (Jefferson Parish charter school): 21%
8. Eleanor McMain Secondary School (Orleans Parish): 21%
9. East Jefferson High School (Jefferson Parish): 20%
9. Frederick A. Douglass High School (Orleans Parish): 20%
9. Warren Easton Charter High School (Orleans Parish): 20%
10. G W Carver High School (Orleans Parish): 21%
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional schools that were excluded by error from earlier lists.
