The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Harriet Tubman Charter School
Harriet Tubman Charter School is a regular public charter school in New Orleans serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It operates as its own district, meaning it is a single-school local education agency, separate from the larger Orleans Parish school system. The school is located in the Algiers neighborhood on the west bank of the Mississippi River, within a city known for its dense urban fabric, historic mixed-use streets, and a distinctive cultural and economic identity shaped by the port, tourism, film production, and institutions like Tulane University. New Orleans has a complicated recovery trajectory after Hurricane Katrina, with rebuilding and population shifts continuing to shape neighborhoods and schools.
The student body draws from the surrounding area. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is predominantly Black, with a noticeable Hispanic population and small shares of white and multiracial students. The grade-by-grade enrollment is fairly even from kindergarten through eighth grade, with a smaller pre-kindergarten cohort. The school is not a magnet and does not have a selective admissions process; it operates as a neighborhood charter with open enrollment.
On state assessments administered through Louisiana's LEAP 2025 program, student performance across tested subjects sits at levels that are, relative to other districts in Orleans Parish, in the bottom quartile of a proficiency index that averages results across subjects and grades. The portion of students scoring at the proficient level or above is low in English language arts, lower in math, lower still in social studies, and lowest in science. The school's participation rates on these tests were essentially universal, so the results reflect nearly the entire tested population. Because this is a PK-8 school, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism was available in the source material. The school's academic performance represents a soft spot that a family considering this school may want to investigate further directly with the school leadership, particularly around instruction, intervention supports, and the trajectory of student growth over time.
There is no data on staffing ratios, course offerings, or enrichment programs in the available record, and the district brief indicates that recent changes of note, such as a charter turnaround and a building renovation, fall outside the typical four-year window considered current. The school's website was not available in the data, and no programmatic details about art, music, athletics, or after-school activities were provided.
For families weighing this school, the picture is one of a mid-sized urban charter serving a predominantly low-income student body, with a clear need for academic improvement as measured by state standards. The city of New Orleans offers a dense, walkable environment in many neighborhoods, a distinctive cultural landscape, and a housing market where home values and rents are below the national benchmark but have seen modest recent shifts. The school's performance on core academics is the primary consideration for a family choosing here, and those numbers are the most concrete information available. Without broader data on the school's learning environment, staff stability, or program enrichment, much of what a parent would want to know about the daily experience of a student at Harriet Tubman Charter School is not present in this record.
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