The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in Science. The lowest is 25% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Richard W. Vincent Elementary School
Richard W. Vincent Elementary School serves Sulphur, a mid-sized industrial city in Calcasieu Parish where oil refineries and petrochemical plants anchor the local economy. The school runs from prekindergarten through fifth grade and is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation. Its enrollment is small for an elementary building, and the student body is majority white, with a substantial Black population and a smaller Hispanic share. Just over two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a moderate-to-high poverty context.
The school sits on Beglis Parkway, a short distance from the downtown Huntington Street corridor where civic institutions like the Brimstone Museum and Henning Cultural Center are concentrated. Sulphur itself is car-dependent, oriented around U.S. Route 90 and Interstate 10, and most new housing development occurs south of town or near the interstate rather than in the older core. Housing values in the school's zip code are below the state median and well below the national median, consistent with the area's industrial base and moderate cost of living. Rents have risen at a noticeably faster pace than home values over the past year, which may matter for families weighing rental versus ownership.
On the state's LEAP 2025 assessments, Vincent Elementary's results show a mixed picture. In English language arts the share of students scoring proficient or above fell into an upper range that suggests roughly two out of five students are meeting that bar, while in math the range was lower, around one in four. Science and social studies proficiency rates were similarly modest, with about one in four students reaching the proficient level in each subject. Participation on test day was complete, so the results reflect nearly the entire tested population. The school's overall proficiency index across subjects placed it above the midpoint among the handful of districts in Calcasieu Parish that had reportable data, meaning it sits closer to the stronger end of the local distribution but not at the top. Because the data covers only a single school year, there is no trend line yet to show whether performance is improving or declining; a parent may want to ask the school how recent cohorts have fared compared with prior years.
No information was available on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, or staffing ratios, so it is not possible to describe school climate or class size from this record. The same is true for special education and English learner counts, which were not reported. These are gaps a prospective parent would want to fill by visiting or speaking with the principal.
The district that runs Vincent Elementary, Calcasieu Parish, recently renewed two property tax millages without raising the rate, securing ongoing funding for teacher salaries and school operations. It also launched a districtwide literacy initiative that received a Magna Award in 2025, signaling a sustained focus on reading instruction. And following Hurricane Laura and Delta damage, the district passed an unusually large budget driven by FEMA reimbursement, funding the rebuilding or renovation of at least ten school facilities. Those investments are reshaping physical campuses across the parish, though it is not clear from available data whether Vincent Elementary was among the buildings that received major repairs or upgrades.
For a family looking at Vincent Elementary, the central takeaway is that this is a small, predominantly white school with a significant low-income population, situated in an affordable, car-dependent industrial city. Academic proficiency in most subjects is modest, and while the school lands on the stronger side of its county comparison, a substantial share of students are not yet scoring at the proficient level. Parents who value a small-school setting and a community with a strong industrial identity may find it a comfortable fit, but those concerned about academic outcomes will want to examine how the school supports students who are below grade level and whether recent district literacy efforts are reaching this campus.
See more original research from School Decision →