The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in English language arts. The lowest is 23% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Elementary School
Highland Elementary School is a regular public school in Baton Rouge serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits within the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, the largest district in the parish. The school enrolls a small student body for its grade band, drawing from a neighborhood near the southern edge of the city.
Academically, Highland Elementary’s results on Louisiana’s LEAP 2025 assessments place it below the midpoint relative to districts in East Baton Rouge Parish. Across all tested subjects and grade levels, somewhere between a quarter and a third of students scored at the proficient or above level that the state uses as its standard. English language arts was the strongest area, with roughly a third meeting that bar, while math, science, and social studies each came in at about a quarter. The state changed cut scores for social studies in this testing cycle, so that subject’s results should be read with some caution. This is the only year of test data available, so there is no way to see whether performance at Highland has been trending upward or downward. The school did achieve full or near-full participation rates on all exams, which means the results reflect nearly every enrolled student in the tested grades.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black population and small shares of White, Asian, and multiracial students. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a common measure of household economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available from the source; a parent may want to ask the school directly about how it supports these groups, as both can shape class size and instructional resources.
Highland Elementary sits in a part of Baton Rouge where home values are above the state average and have risen modestly over the past year. Rents have also edged up. The area is car-dependent, as is most of Baton Rouge, though the neighborhoods near the LSU lakes and downtown offer some walkable pockets. The city itself blends state government, two major universities, a large petrochemical sector, and the everyday rhythms of a mid-sized capital. The school does not appear to have magnet or charter status, and no specific information about program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, or discipline was included in the data available. The district brief turned up no major policy changes, curriculum shifts, or referendums in the near term that would directly affect a parent’s decision.
Because Highland is an elementary school only, there is no graduation rate, no college readiness measure, and no high school pathway to examine. For a family considering this school, the core picture is a small, neighborhood-based elementary with academic performance that falls in the lower half when compared across the parish’s districts. The school serves a high-need population and draws from a part of Baton Rouge where housing costs have been climbing. A parent would want to learn more about class size, enrichment offerings, and how the school addresses the subjects where proficiency rates are softer, because the available state test data shows plenty of room for growth.
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