L.p. Vaughn Elementary & Middle School, Natchitoches LA

Original Research by School Decision on L.p. Vaughn Elementary & Middle School

L.P. Vaughn Elementary & Middle School serves children from preschool through second grade, making it an early-entry school that a child will attend for only a few years before moving on to a building that serves the upper elementary grades. It is a regular public school in Natchitoches, part of the Natchitoches Parish district. The enrollment is sizable for a school that covers only the youngest grades, and the student body is predominantly Black, with a much smaller share of White students and a modest number of Hispanic students. A very high proportion of children qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic context of the surrounding community.

Because the school stops at second grade, Louisiana’s state assessments, which begin in third grade, are not administered to its current students. The data that does appear in the record for grades three through five comes from a period when the school apparently served a wider grade range, and it is several years old. Those results showed very low proficiency rates across math, English language arts, science, and social studies, but they do not describe the academic experience of the children in preschool through second grade today. A parent looking at this school will want to ask directly about how the school measures early literacy and numeracy growth, what curriculum it uses, and how it prepares children for the transition to the next school.

The school sits in Natchitoches, a city that blends a historic French colonial downtown, a college-town atmosphere from Northwestern State University, and a tourism economy that draws over a million visitors annually. The downtown river walk along Cane River Lake, the brick streets, and the concentration of bed-and-breakfasts give the city a distinctive character. Housing values in the area are moderate compared to the state and national markets, and the local economy is anchored by the university, a regional medical center, forestry and lumber exports, and hospitality. The city has invested in historic district revitalization and airport improvements, though the broader population trends are modest.

The district itself has not had any recent major changes that are publicly reported, so the school operates within a stable administrative environment. No program offerings, such as gifted or specialized tracks, are listed in the available data, and there is no information about discipline, staffing, or attendance. For a family with a very young child, L.P. Vaughn is the entry point into the Natchitoches Parish system, and it will be a short stay. The decision about this school is really a decision about the district and the neighborhood, since the school feeds into later grades elsewhere. The school’s high poverty rate and the absence of current test data mean that a parent’s best source of information will be a visit to the building, a conversation with the principal, and a look at how the school communicates its early learning goals.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 311%

School 11% · district not reported

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 47%

School 7% · district not reported

▼ 21 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 311%

School 11% · district not reported

▼ 20 pts below state median

Grade 413%

School 13% · district not reported

▼ 18 pts below state median

Grade 510%

School 10% · district not reported

▼ 19 pts below state median

Science

Grade 35%

School 5% · district not reported

▼ 10 pts below state median

This schoolNatchitoches Parish, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income11%Higher-income0%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income13%Higher-income14%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income0%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income16%Higher-income0%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income17%Higher-income0%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income27%Higher-income25%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income10%Higher-income50%40 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income5%Higher-income28%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income7%Higher-income0%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income22%Higher-income25%3 pp gap