The top reported proficiency rate is 24% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Crowley Middle School
Crowley Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade in the town of Crowley, the parish seat of Acadia Parish. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The student body is diverse: Black students make up the largest share of enrollment, White students the next largest group, and Hispanic students a smaller but present share. A substantial majority of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need. The school sits at the center of a town that brands itself the Rice Capital of the World, with rice milling and agriculture as the mainstays of the local economy. Crowley has a historic downtown with a traditional grid, a Main Street program, and an annual International Rice Festival, but the population has seen a long-term decline from a historic peak, with recent estimates showing only a slight rebound. Housing in the area is well below both state and national benchmarks in value, and the local economy is modest, with limited large-scale employers beyond the rice industry and local government.
On the most recent state assessments, the Louisiana LEAP 2025 tests, Crowley Middle School’s proficiency rates across all four tested subjects are low. In English language arts, about a quarter of students scored at the proficient level or above. In math, the share was lower. Science and social studies each had an even smaller fraction of students reaching proficiency. These are the state’s proficiency benchmarks, which require scoring at Levels 4 or 5 on a five-level scale. The school participated in the assessments with a participation rate near universal, so the results reflect the tested population well. The data covers only one school year for this school, so there is no trend line available to show whether performance is improving or declining. A parent should consider these numbers carefully, and may want to ask the school about supports such as tutoring, intervention programs, or the steps the school takes to raise achievement.
The school’s enrollment is moderate for a middle school in this setting, with each grade level roughly similar in size. No data was reported on the share of students with Individualized Education Programs or the share classified as English learners, so it is not possible to describe the school’s special education or language-support caseload from the available information. Because Crowley Middle School does not serve high school grades, no graduation rate applies. The parent district, Acadia Parish, did not show any publicly reported recent changes, leadership transitions, or major initiatives in the search conducted, so this narrative does not include that context. The comparison set of districts in Acadia Parish was too small to produce a meaningful position against neighbors, so the school is best understood on its own terms.
The town itself offers a limited but defined civic life. City Hall and the Historic Rice Theater anchor the downtown, and the school campus sits separately from that core. The road network is straightforward, with I-10 and US Highway 90 providing regional connections to nearby towns such as Rayne and Jennings. For a parent considering Crowley Middle School, the central fact is the school’s academic performance as measured by state assessments, which is low across all subjects. The school’s student population is predominantly from lower-income households, and the local housing market is inexpensive relative to state and national averages. The combination of a modest local economy, a gently shrinking population, and low test scores suggests that a family moving to this area should make direct contact with the school to understand the classroom experience, any academic improvement plans in place, and the extracurricular or elective offerings that might round out a student’s day. No information was available about the school’s disciplinary climate, course access, or staffing ratios, so those are open questions for a prospective family to ask.
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