The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Melrose Elementary School
Melrose Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the heart of Baton Rouge. It is a regular public school within the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, and it is not a charter or magnet school. The student body is small relative to many elementary schools in the district, and the composition of that body is strongly uniform: almost all students are Black, with a small Hispanic enrollment and a very small number of White students. A very large majority of students come from households with low income, as measured by the share who qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
The school’s academic results on the state’s LEAP 2025 assessments show a clear and consistent pattern. In reading and English language arts, just over a quarter of students scored at the proficient level or above. In math, the share was lower. Science and social studies proficiency levels were each below the share seen in English language arts. The participation rates on these tests were high. The school’s overall proficiency, when averaged across all tested subjects and grades, placed it below the midpoint among elementary schools in East Baton Rouge Parish. Only one year of data was available in the trend file, so there is no basis to say whether these results are improving or declining.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Information on chronic absenteeism and on the share of students with disabilities or who are English learners was not available in the data provided, and a parent wanting to understand these dimensions of student support would need to ask the school directly. Similarly, no data was reported on discipline rates, course access, or staffing ratios. Because the data is thin on these operational topics, a reader should not infer that problems exist; the information simply was not collected in this data set.
The housing market that feeds Melrose Elementary reflects a Baton Rouge zip code where home values are above the statewide benchmark but still below the national average. Rents have been rising. The typical monthly rent is somewhat less than the estimated mortgage payment on a median-priced home, a dynamic that matters for families deciding whether to buy or rent in the attendance zone.
Baton Rouge itself is the state capital, a consolidated city-parish of substantial size. It is a mix of a government center, a university town anchored by Louisiana State University and Southern University, and an industrial hub along the Mississippi River. The city is largely car-dependent, with walkable pockets downtown and near the LSU campus. Downtown holds the state capitol, government offices, and riverfront amenities, while the university campuses sit a few miles away. The economy draws on state government, petrochemicals, healthcare, and logistics. The city’s population has edged down slightly from the 2020 census, though the broader metro area has grown, and suburban development continues in the southern and eastern parts of the parish.
If a parent is evaluating Melrose Elementary, the central fact is the academic proficiency rates, which are well below the median for the parish. The student body is almost entirely Black and overwhelmingly low-income. The school is a regular neighborhood elementary in a large, diverse district within a mid-sized capital city that is car-oriented and stratified by income and race across its neighborhoods. For a family that values a school with a strong sense of shared background among students and a commitment to raising outcomes, this school may be worth a closer look, but the academic results as they stand are soft, especially in math, science, and social studies. A parent would want to ask the school directly about support for students who are behind grade level, about the stability of the teaching staff, and about any recent initiatives aimed at improvement. Data on those topics was not available in this profile.
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