The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Science. The lowest is 60% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Lafayette Preparatory Academy
Lafayette Preparatory Academy operates as a single-school charter district in St. Louis city, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Because it serves only elementary and middle grades, it has no high school graduation rate to report, and the academic picture is limited to the state assessments given in those grades. The district is the only school in its own network, so what you see for the district is the performance of one school building.
Academically, the proficiency results on Missouri’s MAP assessments place this district in a notably strong position within its immediate context. When compared against all other districts in St. Louis city, Lafayette Preparatory Academy’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the top quartile. That is a clear distinction. Looked at grade by grade, the pattern is not flat. In math, proficiency rates run from roughly half of students meeting the bar in sixth grade to just under two-thirds in several other grades. In English language arts, the picture is more varied: third grade shows a rate near three-fifths, while sixth grade dips to just over half, and by seventh and eighth grade the rates climb to roughly three-quarters and above that. Eighth-grade science, the only science grade with reported results, shows a high rate. Several grade-level results, including fourth- and fifth-grade ELA and fifth-grade science, were suppressed, meaning too few students tested to report a reliable figure, which can happen in a small district.
The chronic absenteeism rate, a measure of how many students miss substantial amounts of school, is also in the top quartile among St. Louis city districts. That is a positive signal, since chronic absence is associated with weaker academic outcomes and is a challenge in many urban districts.
Per-pupil spending falls in the lower range when compared to other districts in the city. A parent may want to ask how that spending level translates into resources in the classroom, though the academic results suggest the school is producing strong outcomes with that budget level.
The student body is a mix. A little over half the students are white, roughly a third are Black, and smaller shares are Hispanic or multiracial. The Asian and Native American populations are negligible in number. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available, so it is not possible to assess the share of students facing economic disadvantage from the data here.
The district brief, drawing from publicly reported sources, notes that Lafayette Preparatory Academy received a charter renewal in 2023, securing its continued operation. The school’s website publicly describes itself as ranked number one among St. Louis city schools on the 2024 state MAP tests, and the renewal is described as spanning a figure the data does not supply. For a parent, a multi-year charter renewal signals that the authorizer considers the school stable and meeting its obligations.
The school serves grades PK through eight, and its single campus means the experience is contained and relatively small in scale. There are no high school grades, so families will need a plan for ninth grade and beyond. The district is a charter, so enrollment is open to any student in the city, not tied to a residential address. A parent considering this school should weigh the strong relative performance within the city and the low chronic absenteeism against the fact that the school is a single building, ends at eighth grade, and operates on a per-pupil spending level that is lower than many surrounding districts.
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