The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on North Central High School
North Central High School sits in Washington, a very small rural village in St. Landry Parish that once thrived as a 19th-century steamboat port but has been losing population for decades. The town’s economy is limited and its housing values, while low, have declined recently. The school itself serves grades seven through twelve on a single campus and draws from the surrounding parish. For a family or resident evaluating the academic pathway here, the picture is straightforward: this is a school where proficiency rates on state assessments fall well below most benchmarks, and a prospective parent will want a clear-eyed understanding of what that means.
State testing results from the LEAP 2025 assessment, reported for the most recent school year, show that in English language arts about a third of students scored at or above the proficient level. In math, roughly one in seven students met that bar. Science and social studies were lower, with fewer than one in ten students reaching proficiency. Participation rates were high, so these results reflect nearly all tested students. Because the school’s grade band includes both middle and high school grades, the state tested a single group of students across subjects, and the school’s subject counts of tested students were identical, so these are the same students across subjects. Only one year of data was available, so there is no trend to compare against.
The student body is predominantly Black, with a smaller white population and a very small Hispanic share. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available from the source. Enrollment is moderate for a combined middle and high school, with about the same number of students in grades seven through twelve.
The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and is part of the St. Landry Parish school system. No information was publicly found about the district’s recent strategic changes or initiatives that might affect families. No program-level data, such as Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, or career and technical education offerings, was available in the provided information. A parent interested in those pathways would need to ask the school directly.
The lack of a graduation rate in the data is notable. For a school that serves grades seven through twelve, the graduation rate is a standard measure, but it was not included in the source material for this entity. A parent may want to ask the school for its most recent graduation rate and postsecondary outcomes to complete the picture.
The town of Washington itself has a historic but declining residential core. It offers a compact, walkable downtown district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with brick storefronts and old live oaks. However, the population has been dropping steadily over recent decades, and no new housing developments or major employers were identified. The housing market is low-cost relative to national averages, but values have also been declining. The school sits within this fragile rural economy. The peer environment is one where most students come from lower-income households, and the school’s academic results suggest that many students are not reaching grade-level proficiency by the time they reach middle and high school.
For a family considering North Central, the core question will be how the school’s current academic profile matches their expectations. The proficiency numbers are low across all tested subjects. A parent moving into the area or weighing options should seek direct conversations with the school about academic support, interventions, and any programs that may not be captured in this data. The absence of data on graduation rate, course access, and disciplinary climate means there are important unknowns. This is a school that serves a high-need population in a shrinking rural town, and its reported test results reflect a challenging academic landscape.
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