Carver Elementary School, Deridder LA

Original Research by School Decision on Carver Elementary School

Carver Elementary School serves second and third graders in DeRidder, the parish seat of Beauregard Parish in southwestern Louisiana. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it sits on Martin Luther King Drive in a town that grew out of the timber and railroad industries. DeRidder is a small community with a historic downtown commercial district, a walkable core of festivals and a farmers' market, and a population that has been declining in recent years. The city’s economy has roots in forest products and is influenced by the nearby Fort Polk military installation. Housing values in the area are below the state average, and rents are modest relative to national benchmarks, which may matter to families weighing affordability.

Carver Elementary serves only second and third graders, with an enrollment that is small for a regular public school. The student body is majority white, with a substantial share of Black students and smaller shares of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. A significant portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that many families in the community face economic challenges. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records reviewed.

State testing results from the most recent school year show that proficiency rates in English language arts, math, science, and social studies are below the state average across the grades this school serves. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient was in the low-to-mid range, with second and third graders showing a slightly higher rate than the school’s overall average. Math proficiency was lower, and science and social studies proficiency rates were lower still. Because only one year of testing data was available, there is no trend to assess whether performance is improving or declining. A parent may want to ask the school about its academic improvement plans and how it supports students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks.

Carver Elementary is part of the Beauregard Parish school district. Publicly reported information indicates that in 2022, voters in the parish approved two school board tax renewals, a property tax and a sales tax, both of which had been in place for decades and together generate substantial annual revenue for school operations and salaries. In 2023, the district expanded career and technical education programs at the high school level, adding pathways in healthcare, welding, and information technology. Those high school programs are not directly relevant to Carver’s second and third graders, but they signal the district’s broader investment in workforce-aligned learning.

The school itself is a neighborhood elementary serving a narrow grade band. Its location on Martin Luther King Drive places it within the residential fabric of DeRidder. The town’s historic downtown, with its farmers’ market and seasonal festivals, is a short distance away. Housing in the area is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, and the local economy is shaped by timber, government, and the nearby Fort Polk military installation. The population of DeRidder has been declining, and the district’s tax renewals in 2022 were renewals of long-standing levies, not new taxes, which suggests stable but not expanding local funding.

For a family considering Carver Elementary, the picture is straightforward. This is a small, neighborhood school serving only two grade levels. Academic proficiency on state assessments is below state averages across all subjects, and a parent may want to discuss with the school how it addresses those gaps. The school does not serve grades that would have a graduation rate, so that metric does not apply. The district has invested in career pathways at the high school level, but those are several years away for a Carver student. The community is affordable, small, and car-dependent outside its historic downtown, with a declining population and a stable but not growing tax base. For a family looking for a close-to-home elementary experience in a low-cost, small-town setting, Carver Elementary fits that description, with the understanding that academic performance is an area to explore further with the school.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · district not reported

even with state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 527%

School 27% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 628%

School 28% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 725%

School 25% · district not reported

even with state median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · district not reported

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 536%

School 36% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 639%

School 39% · district not reported

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 735%

School 35% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 838%

School 38% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median

Science

Grade 314%

School 14% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 435%

School 35% · district not reported

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 539%

School 39% · district not reported

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 621%

School 21% · district not reported

even with state median

Grade 725%

School 25% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 824%

School 24% · district not reported

▲ 9 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 311%

School 11% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 433%

School 33% · district not reported

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 531%

School 31% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 620%

School 20% · district not reported

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 731%

School 31% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 829%

School 29% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median

This schoolBeauregard Parish, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income22%Higher-income62%40 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income56%29 pp gap