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T.S. Cooley Elementary topped all schools in Calcasieu Parish and is one of six elementary schools that have been ranked among the parish’s top 10 public schools, according to a list from School Superintendent Wayne Savoy.

The list, based on 2011 School Performance Scores, also gives the schools’ Star Performance Levels, Savoy said.

“I gave this list to the principals so that they could see what the effect a letter grade will have on their schools,” he said. “We took our star numbers and applied the grade and showed the spread that has now increased.”

T.S. Cooley is the only five-star school in the parish. It received a 2011 Baseline School Performance Score of 153.1, which gives the school an A-plus grade.

The second-ranked school in the parish is Prien Lake Elementary, which received a score of 126.2, four stars and an A-plus.

The parish’s only other four-star schools — with scores between 120 and 139.9 — are Sam Houston High, Westlake High, Barbe High, Vincent Settlement Elementary and LeBleu Elementary.

Savoy said his only concern was that two-star schools have split letter grades of C’s and D’s within a performance score range of from 80 to 99.9.

“Some of the schools did not deserve a D label,” Savoy said. “Ninety-nine point nine to 90 is a C, but an 89.9 is a D-minus, even though it’s still a two-star school. Two stars used to mean that a school was doing fine.”

The top five elementary schools in Calcasieu Parish are T.S. Cooley, Prien Lake, Vincent Settlement, LeBleu and Frasch.

More than half of the top 20 schools in Calcasieu are elementary schools.

Dolores Hicks, administrative director of Calcasieu elementary schools, said the list made her proud.

“We only have one elementary school on the state’s watch list, and that’s where my concern is right now,” Hicks said. “But yet we look at all of the schools and do whatever we can to improve so that children can learn.”

Hicks said J.J. Johnson was the sole elementary school on the watch list.

The top five middle schools in Calcasieu are Arnett, Moss Bluff Middle, Lewis, S.J. Welsh and DeQuincy Middle.

Out of 57 public schools listed in Calcasieu Parish, the highest-ranked middle school was listed at 14.

With mostly elementary and high schools at the top of the rankings, the middle schools rank near the middle, with none of them earning a four-star ranking. Out of six three-star middle schools, three earned B grades and 3 earned C grades.

The top five high schools in Calcasieu are Sam Houston, Westlake, Barbe, Sulphur and Iowa.

The parish’s lowest-ranking schools are Washington-Marion Magnet among high schools; Reynaud Middle among middle schools; and J.J. Johnson among elementary schools.TS-Cooley-Photo