Bayou Lacombe Middle, Lacombe LA

Original Research by School Decision on Bayou Lacombe Middle

Bayou Lacombe Middle School serves grades four through six in the Lacombe community of St. Tammany Parish. It is a regular public school, one of several campuses that together serve the area’s students from elementary through high school. Because it covers only the middle elementary years, the school sits outside the high school accountability measures such as graduation rate; the academic picture comes entirely from state assessments given to all students in grades three through eight.

On the Louisiana LEAP 2025 assessments, the school’s results show a mixed profile. In English language arts, roughly half of students scored at or above the proficient level. In mathematics, the share reaching that benchmark was lower, just below a third. Science and social studies each produced a proficient rate in the mid to upper third of students. These figures represent a single year’s snapshot, with no prior-year data available for comparison, so a parent considering the school may want to ask about recent trends and any targeted support in math and science instruction.

Students at Bayou Lacombe Middle are a diverse group. The largest share of the student body is white, followed closely by Black students, with a substantial Hispanic enrollment and smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. More than half of the students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the community’s economic profile. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, a gap that families with specific support needs may wish to discuss directly with the school.

Lacombe itself is a low-density census-designated place in St. Tammany Parish, with a rural-suburban feel. Most homes are owner-occupied, and the area is car-dependent, with no concentrated commercial downtown. Residents commute to work, often driving alone, and the largest employment sectors are health care, education, and public administration. Home values have seen a modest decline in recent years, and the population has been relatively stable with a slight uptick since the 2020 census. The main campus of Northshore Technical Community College is located in Lacombe, and the St. Tammany Parish Library has a branch here. Schools including Bayou Lacombe Middle are spread across the area rather than clustered in a single civic center.

The district of St. Tammany Parish has not publicly reported major recent changes or strategic initiatives in accessible sources. A web search for parent-relevant developments did not yield specific findings, so what is available is the school’s own present profile. The school’s size is modest for its grade band, and it draws from a community where many families are long-term homeowners. For a family weighing this school, the central considerations are a student body that is economically diverse, a performance picture that is stronger in English than in math, and a community setting that is quiet, spread out, and car-oriented. A parent may want to follow up on how the school addresses the areas where proficiency is lower and whether any new initiatives are underway.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grades 3-832%

School 32% · District 42% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grades 3-848%

School 48% · District 54% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grades 3-836%

School 36% · District 38% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-836%

School 36% · District 43% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolSt. Tammany 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 4Lower-income44%Higher-income69%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income67%38 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income39%Higher-income68%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income75%48 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income51%36 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income45%22 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income21%Higher-income56%35 pp gap