The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tom Benson School
Tom Benson School serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Kenner, a suburban city in Jefferson Parish that functions as the largest incorporated suburb of New Orleans. The school is a regular public school within the Jefferson Parish Public School System, and it is not a charter or magnet school. Its student body of several hundred children spans the elementary and middle school years, and the school does not serve high school grades, so measures like graduation rate do not apply.
The students at Tom Benson School are predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Black students and a smaller white population. More than half of the students come from families with low enough incomes to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a level that signals a significant low-income population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source materials.
State testing results from the LEAP 2025 assessments, which cover students in grades three through eight, show that the proportion of students scoring at or above the proficient level was modest in English language arts and smaller in math, science, and social studies. In each tested subject, a minority of students reached the proficient or advanced categories. Participation rates were high, so the results reflect nearly all eligible students. Only one year of data was available, so there is no trend to describe. A parent considering the school may want to discuss the academic support and intervention programs the school offers to address these outcomes.
Because the school ends at eighth grade, families will need to plan for a high school transition within Jefferson Parish. The district itself has been undergoing significant changes. Publicly reported accounts indicate that a school consolidation plan was approved in 2023, involving closures, mergers, and redrawn attendance zones across the parish. In addition, the school board approved budget cuts for the 2024-2025 school year, reducing central office staff and transportation services. At the same time, the district adopted a new evidence-based reading curriculum beginning in the 2023-2024 school year as part of a state literacy initiative, and it received a federal grant in 2023 to expand STEM programs, technology, and teacher training over several years. These developments could affect which schools students attend, how they get there, and what programs are available.
Kenner itself is a car-dependent suburb shaped by Interstate 10 and Williams Boulevard, with Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport located within city limits. The city has a mix of residential subdivisions and commercial strips, along with a historic Rivertown district and recreational areas like Laketown on Lake Pontchartrain. The population has been declining modestly in recent years, a pattern that aligns with the district's consolidation planning. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and rents have seen a slight recent decrease. The typical home in the area is priced below the national median, and the estimated monthly mortgage cost is comparable to or slightly below what renting would cost, making it a more affordable part of the broader New Orleans metro region.
Tom Benson School is the kind of place where a family should expect to be actively engaged with the school to understand what academic supports are in place and how the district's ongoing reorganizations might affect their child's path from elementary through middle school and into high school.
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