The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on John J. Johnson Ii Elementary School
John J. Johnson II Elementary School serves prekindergarten through second grade in Lake Charles, part of the Calcasieu Parish school district. This is a regular public school. Because it covers only the earliest elementary years, there is no graduation rate to report, state testing results are limited to the grades it does serve, and the picture of academic performance is confined to those lower elementary years.
The school is small for its grade band. Its enrollment is heavily concentrated in kindergarten through second grade, with a very small share of students coming from the surrounding community. The student body is composed almost entirely of Black students, with a modest presence of students identifying as two or more races and a sliver of white students. The share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals is very high. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available.
State test results are available only for the school year that is several years old, and they come from a period when Louisiana was using an older version of its LEAP assessment and had made changes to the cut scores for math and English language arts, which limits direct comparability to later years. In that year, the school tested students in grades three through five. Proficiency rates in math were low across those tested grades, with a very small portion of students scoring at the proficient or above level. In English language arts, the picture was also low, though the rate for third graders was notably higher than the other grades, while fourth and fifth graders showed very low proficiency. In science and social studies, which were tested in fourth grade, the rate of students reaching proficiency was similarly very low. When compared across all tested subjects and grades to other elementary schools in Calcasieu Parish, the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile. A parent exploring this school will want to discuss current academic performance directly with the school, given the age of the available data and the school’s early-grade focus.
The school sits in Lake Charles, a mid-sized city that blends heavy industry along the Calcasieu River with casino tourism, higher education at McNeese State University and Sowela Technical Community College, and established residential neighborhoods. The city is car-dependent and sprawling, with a downtown lakefront district featuring parks, a boardwalk, and cultural venues. Major employers include petrochemical companies like PPG Industries, Phillips 66, and Sasol, along with the universities and the casino sector. The city was severely damaged by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020, and the population has declined since, though the downtown development authority is actively working to restore historic structures and attract new growth.
Housing in the school’s zip code is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, with home values well below the Louisiana median. Rents are also below the national average. The estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical home, after a standard down payment, is modest, and rent consumes a reasonable share of median household income. This context suggests a community where housing costs are not a major barrier for families, though the economic base is tied to an industrial and tourism-driven local economy with some volatility.
The Calcasieu Parish district has made several parent-relevant moves in recent years, publicly reported. In late 2024, voters renewed two property tax millages that generate substantial annual revenue for teacher salaries and school operations, without raising the tax rate. This renewal secures ongoing funding for staffing and programs. The district has also implemented a districtwide literacy initiative in recent years, focused on structured literacy, curriculum alignment, and reading intervention, which won a Magna Award in early 2025. This represents a deliberate pedagogical shift that will affect how reading is taught in the early grades at Johnson Elementary. Additionally, the district passed an unusually large budget for the school year that followed the 2020 hurricanes, funded largely by FEMA reimbursement, to rebuild or renovate at least 10 damaged school facilities. That investment in physical infrastructure is ongoing and will shape the learning environments for years to come.
For a family considering this school, the key factors are its early-grade-only span, its very small size, and its location in a city with a challenging recent history of natural disasters and an industrial economy. The test data available is thin and dated, and performance was low at that time. A parent should ask the school about current classroom instruction, the literacy initiative in practice, and how the school supports early learners in a high-poverty context. The district’s tax renewal and facility rebuilding efforts suggest a system working to stabilize and improve, but the academic starting point for this school is one that warrants close attention.
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