Schools · Lake Charles
Lake Charles, LA schools
Lake Charles’s public schools score above Louisiana’s averages: 44% of students are proficient in reading against 40.1% statewide, and 95% of high schoolers graduate on time against 84.1%. Kids attend one of 14 elementary schools through grade 5, then one of 14 elementary schools, one of 4 middle schools and Alfred M. Barbe High School or LaGrange High School or Washington/Marion Magnet High School.
Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.
TownTapestry School GradeNew
A−
Lake Charles’s School Grade: A-
The public schools Lake Charles’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 81% of Louisiana’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.
A-Test scoresB+Graduation
Louisiana school districts we grade (188)Better than 81%
Lower resultsHigher results
Louisiana towns with similar household incomes (183)Better than 63%
High confidence. Built on 14,091 tested students and a graduating class of 1,913; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Louisiana’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Louisiana only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Louisiana with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path
Where Lake Charles kids go to school
Grades PK–5
14 elementary schoolsDepends on your address · see the list Calcasieu Parish School DistrictGrades 5
14 elementary schoolsDepends on your address · see the list Calcasieu Parish School DistrictGrades 9–12
A-Alfred M. Barbe High School or C-LaGrange High School or DWashington/Marion Magnet High School
Depends on your address Calcasieu Parish School DistrictBased on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.
Test scores · 2020–21
Above the state in reading
Reading (grades PK–12, Calcasieu Parish)44%
State average 40.1%
Math (grades PK–12, Calcasieu Parish)30%
State average 28.7%
Graduation · class of 2020
95% graduate on time
Graduation rate
95%
LA: 84.1%
Graduating class
1,913
students
The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years. #31 of 161 LA towns →
Districts
The district serving Lake Charles
Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Colleges
Lake Charles is home to 2 colleges
McNeese State UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Lake Charles4,918on campusSOWELA Technical Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Lake Charles2,949on campus
All 2 colleges in Lake Charles →Every school
All 30 schools in Lake Charles
Showing 1–30 of 30 schools
Lake Charles Charter AcademyElementary · Grades PK–8 · 951 students
C+CharterSouthwest Louisiana Charter AcademyElementary · Grades PK–8 · 852 students
C-CharterA. A. Nelson Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 736 students
B+PublicPrien Lake Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 639 students
APublicFairview Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 518 students
DPublicCombre-Fondel Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 426 students
DPublicDolby Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 360 students
APublicHenry Heights Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 315 students
CPublicT. S. Cooley Elementary Magnet SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 300 students
A+PublicCollege Oaks Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 278 students
C-PublicBrentwood Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 272 students
C-PublicOak Park Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 259 students
C-PublicPearl Watson Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 219 students
C-PublicBarbe Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 179 students
CPublicT. H. Watkins Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–5 · 165 students
B-PublicJohn J. Johnson II Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–2 · 131 students
PublicRalph F. Wilson Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades 3–5 · 92 students
DPublicOur Lady Queen of Heaven SchoolElementary · Grades PK–8 · 648 students
PrivateImmaculate Conception Cathedral SchoolElementary · Grades PK–8 · 387 students
PrivateSt. Margaret Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades PK–8 · 313 students
PrivateS. J. Welsh Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 1,011 students
BPublicF. K. White Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 614 students
B-PublicOak Park Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 388 students
C-PublicRay D. Molo Middle Magnet SchoolMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 265 students
DPublicAlfred M. Barbe High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 1,908 students
A-PublicLaGrange High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 881 students
C-PublicLake Charles College PrepHigh · Grades 9–12 · 624 students
C-CharterWashington/Marion Magnet High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 597 students
DPublicBishop Noland Episcopal Day SchoolOther · Grades PK–12 · 430 students
PrivateCovenant Grace AcademyOther · Grades PK–12 · 81 students
PrivateSchool data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.