The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in English language arts. The lowest is 82% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on South Highlands Elementary Magnet School
South Highlands Elementary Magnet School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Shreveport, within the Caddo Parish school district. It is a regular public school that operates as a magnet, drawing families from a wider area than a standard attendance zone. The school enrolls a large student body for an elementary. Its demographic composition is predominantly white, with a substantial minority of Black students and a smaller share of Asian students. The share of students who identify as Hispanic is modest, and a small portion of the student body is multiracial. A relatively low share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is an indicator that the school serves a population with a higher-than-average income profile in the district, though that is a characteristic of the families who are enrolled, not a judgment.
Academically, the school produces results that are notably strong. On the state’s LEAP 2025 assessments, the proficiency rates for all students, across the subjects tested in grades three through five, place it as a high-performing elementary school. The proficiency rate in English language arts is very high, and the rate in mathematics is similarly very high. In science, the proficiency rate is lower than in ELA and math but remains well above typical levels for the state. In social studies, the proficiency rate is also strong. The school tested the same cohort of students across all four subjects, and participation was universal, which means these results reflect nearly the full student body. The average scale scores in each subject are elevated, consistent with the high proficiency rates. Only a single year of data was available for trending, so it is not possible to say whether these are recent gains or an established pattern, but the current snapshot is one of unusually strong academic performance for an elementary school.
The school serves grades PK through five, and as such, it has no graduation rate because it does not serve high school students. Similarly, data on chronic absenteeism and discipline were not provided in the available information. The school does not appear to have Title I status, which typically supports schools with higher concentrations of poverty, and that aligns with the relatively low share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.
Shreveport is the largest city in the Ark-La-Tex region and the parish seat of Caddo Parish. The city has a declining population, a trend linked to the loss of oil-industry jobs and the closure of a major General Motors plant, and it is actively working to diversify its economy into logistics, healthcare, gaming, and technology through initiatives like the I-20 Cyber Corridor. Major employers include Barksdale Air Force Base, Amazon, and multiple healthcare systems. The city is car-dependent, with commercial corridors and residential neighborhoods spread across a large land area. Housing values in the school’s ZIP code were above the state median but below the national median, and rents were rising notably year over year, which reflects a tightening market. The school is located in the historic Highland neighborhood, an area with older housing stock and tree-lined streets. The district-brief search found no recent major policy, curriculum, or funding changes to report for Caddo Parish that would affect a parent’s current decision.
For a family looking at an elementary school with very strong test performance, a magnet structure that draws from across the parish, and a student body that is less economically diverse than the district as a whole, South Highlands presents a clear option. The academic results speak for themselves on the subjects tested. The missing pieces—such as trend data and information on special education services or English learner support—are gaps a parent may want to explore directly with the school, but they do not obscure the central finding that this is a school where students, as a group, are performing at a high level on state assessments.
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