Original Research by School Decision on Cecilia High School
Cecilia High School sits in a small, predominantly residential census-designated place on a bend of Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish, part of the Lafayette metropolitan area. The community is deeply Cajun and Creole French in culture, with a share of residents using Cajun French for daily communication. Commercial life is modest, centered on a meat market, a monthly open-air market, and plate-lunch service at local grocery stores. Housing is mostly single-unit detached homes and mobile homes, with a majority owner-occupied. Cecilia’s population trended downward in the most recent census, and no major new housing development was evident in available reporting. The schools, including Cecilia High, are zoned within the community rather than on isolated campuses, and Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church serves as a local anchor. The district itself, St. Martin Parish, has no recent significant public changes that could be found in available records.
Cecilia High School serves students in grades nine through twelve as a regular public school. Its enrollment is large for a high school in a small community, drawing from the area. The student body is majority white, with a substantial share of Black students and smaller Hispanic and multiracial populations. A majority of students come from households with low enough incomes to qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a rate that is in line with the community’s economic profile.
The state assessment data available is limited and dated. The most recent testing results shown are from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years and cover only eighth graders, not the high school’s own grade span. On the LEAP 2025 assessments in math, English language arts, and social studies, and on the earlier LEAP in science, the number of tested students was small and the measured proficiency rate fell at the very low end of the reporting range, with no test taker scoring at a proficient or advanced level. These results are from assessment years when a change in test name was flagged, and they apply to the grade eight cohort who, at that time, were attending Cecilia Junior High, not the high school. No more recent state test data for the high school’s own students, in grades nine through twelve, was available for this profile.
A graduation rate was not part of the available data. A parent seeking a clear picture of academic outcomes for Cecilia High’s current students will find the record thin. The national academic context data that would place the school against others was not present in the source material, and the comparison within St. Martin Parish could not be run because the proficiency numbers needed for that analysis were missing. The lack of recent, grade-level testing data means a family considering this school will want to ask the school or district directly about current performance, course offerings, and post-graduation outcomes.
In the absence of program offerings data, it is not possible to describe what advanced coursework, career and technical education pathways, or dual-enrollment options Cecilia High provides. The school’s environment indicators, such as discipline rates, staffing ratios, attendance, and course access, were also not recorded. What is available paints a picture of a school that is an integral part of a small, stable Cajun community with a clear cultural identity, serving a large number of students whose families face economic challenges, but where the academic achievement evidence is too thin and dated to draw a firm read on current performance. A parent will need to pursue direct conversations with the school to fill in the gaps.
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