The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Magnolia Elementary
Magnolia Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in New Iberia, the parish seat of Iberia Parish. The school is a regular public school in the Iberia Parish district, and it is a mid-sized elementary for its grade band. The student body is diverse, with a composition that includes a substantial share of Black students, a smaller but still significant white population, a notable Hispanic presence, and smaller groups of Asian students and students identifying as two or more races.
The school community is shaped by the economic realities of its setting. A large majority of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a clear picture of the income level of the families the school serves. The wider economic context of New Iberia reflects a city with a historic downtown along Bayou Teche, an economy rooted in agriculture, especially sugar cane, and food-production heritage tied to names like Tabasco and Louisiana Hot Sauce. Population in New Iberia has declined over recent decades, and this pattern continued in the most recent estimates, marking a slow but steady contraction that affects local housing demand and the tax base that supports schools.
The housing market in the area is notably more affordable than national and state benchmarks. Home values have seen a modest decline, and rents are also below national averages, which means that for families considering a move, the cost of housing in this part of Iberia Parish is comparatively low. This affordability is a function of the local economic and demographic trends rather than a sign of an expanding market; there were no major new housing developments surfaced in research, and the population decline is a context that a family should weigh when thinking about long-term property value and community vitality.
On academic performance, the data from Louisiana’s LEAP 2025 assessments for the most recent school year shows that Magnolia Elementary’s proficiency rates are modest across all tested subjects. In English language arts, about one-third of students scored at or above the proficient level, which is the strongest showing of the four subjects. In math, the rate was lower, and in both science and social studies, it was notably lower still. The participation rate on these assessments was high, meaning the results reflect nearly the entire tested population. Because the dataset contains only a single year of results, there is no trend line to judge yet, and the state flagged a change in the social studies cut scores that year, which means that subject’s result should be read with an extra grain of caution. A parent considering this school will want to look into the instructional supports in math and science in particular, and to ask what interventions are in place for students who are not yet meeting proficiency.
The school serves prekindergarten through sixth grade, so there is no graduation rate or high school outcome data to report. The district-level comparison did not produce a useful benchmark because there was only one district in Iberia Parish for the purposes of this analysis, so placing Magnolia Elementary’s performance against its county peers is not possible from the data at hand.
The district brief turned up little of note in terms of recent policy changes or strategic initiatives, so families should expect to gather that information directly from the district office.
For a family, the most important considerations are these. Magnolia Elementary offers an affordable housing market on the back end and a student body that is majority low-income. The academic results are soft enough that a proactive parent should want to understand what individual supports look like for a child who is below grade level. The school is in a city that is losing population slowly, which may matter for families who plan to be in the area for many years and are concerned about long-term investment in the community.
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