Jeff Davis Parish students made a strong showing on school performance scores, outscoring the state average in seven of the parish’s 12 schools.

The school district also increased its district performance score slightly from 85.9 percent in 2022 to 86.7 percent this year, maintaining its “B” rating on the annual state performance assessments, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.

The school district’s score was ahead of the statewide score, which reached 78.5 percent.

“We were very pleased when we got our test scores because our school performance scores had grown in almost every area,” Superintendent John Hall said.

“The most important thing we are looking at now is that we continue to have growth and that we continue to put student achievement first, not just in academics,” he continued. “It is all student achievement, whether it’s student achievement in extracurricular, clubs or activities. You have to make school exciting and interesting. All of that helps improve student engagement in academics.”

Four schools in the district achieved an “A” rating for their progress in meeting growth targets on the standardized state testing.

Those schools are Hathaway High, Jennings High, Lake Arthur High and Welsh High schools.

“Since letter grades have been introduced in accountability, this is only the second time in our parish history and that goes back a long time, that this has ever happened,” Hall said.

It is the first time Jennings High School, which is the largest high school in the parish, has achieved an “A” rating.

“That’s quite an achievement for such a big school,” Hall said. “We are proud of all of them, but Jennings High School getting it for the first time is quite a big achievement so we are very proud of them.”

“It just shows that the administration, staff and all their support systems are working,” he continued. “Everything that we have identified that needed support, got support and that is important to us. When we look at the areas that we did improve, we also looked to see if those were the areas that we focused on for improvement and we are very happy that that is exactly what has happened.”

The areas of improvement focused on the school assessment indices and improved ACT index, which saw a huge increase.

For the first time, all the parish’s high schools received an A rating in strength of diploma and graduation rates.

Six other schools – Elton High, Fenton Elementary, Lacassine High, Lake Arthur Elementary, Welsh Elementary and Welsh-Roanoke Junior. High received a ranking of “B.”

Two schools, Elton Elementary And Jennings Elementary had a “C.”

No school in the district scored below a “C” rating.

Five schools – Fenton Elementary, Jennings Elementary, Lake Arthur Elementary. Welsh Elementary and Welsh High schools were also named top gains honorees.

“This recognizes those schools for improvement in overall performance,” Hall said.  “And this is the first time we have had five top gains honorees in a long time, so we are very proud of those schools, too.”

Elton Elementary School was also ranked second in the state out of 67 districts for its pre-kindergarten program. The program scored the third highest in the state out of 1,798 sites in pre-k performance.

“I know this does not come easy, but our teachers have put their students first and are doing exactly what they need to do – loving our students,” Hall said. “They have loved them through their tears, hardships, custody battles, illnesses, learning difficulties and many other daily life lessons. They are a blessing in our students’ lives and I am honored that they have chosen Jeff Davis Parish as the place to work.”