The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lanier Elementary School a Redesign School
Lanier Elementary School, A Redesign School, is a public charter school in Baton Rouge serving students from pre-kindergarten through seventh grade. It operates as a regular school under the Lanier Charter School district. The enrollment is small for a school spanning this many grades, and the student body is composed almost entirely of Black students with a very small share of Hispanic students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty context.
The school sits in Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s state capital and a consolidated city-parish that blends state government, Louisiana State University, a large petrochemical port, and a diverse set of neighborhoods. The city has grown through suburban expansion in the southern and eastern parts of the parish, while the downtown core has seen recent investment. Housing values in the area around the school are low relative to the national and state benchmarks, and the local housing market has softened. Baton Rouge is car-dependent overall, with walkable pockets concentrated near downtown and the LSU campus.
Lanier’s academic performance on Louisiana’s LEAP 2025 assessments across the 2024-25 school year shows proficiency rates that fall well below the midpoint among districts in East Baton Rouge Parish. Across tested subjects and grades, proficiency was below the county median. In English language arts, roughly a third of students reached the proficient or advanced level. Math proficiency was lower, and science and social studies proficiency rates were very low. Participation rates were high, meaning the results reflect nearly the entire tested population.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, no four-year graduation rate is reported, and there is no data on chronic absenteeism or other school environment measures such as discipline or staffing. The district itself operates only this single school, and a search for recent district-wide changes or strategic priorities found little publicly reported information.
This is a school that serves a high-poverty, predominantly Black student population in a small, single-building charter setting. The academic results are notably lower than what most families in the parish see at other district or charter schools. A parent considering this school would likely want to understand what the “redesign” designation means in practice, ask about any new instructional models or support programs being implemented, and probe what the school offers in terms of enrichment, arts, and student services that are not captured in test scores. The small enrollment could mean more individual attention, but the proficiency data suggests the school is still in the early stages of addressing significant academic challenges.
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