The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Union Parish Elementary School
Union Parish Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the rural parish seat of Farmerville, Louisiana. It is the elementary school within the Union Parish school district, which operates a small parish-wide system that includes a junior high and a high school as well. The school sits in a low-density, car-dependent town organized around Lake D’Arbonne, a recreational waterway that draws fishing tournaments and visitors. Farmerville has seen population decline in recent decades and experienced a significant tornado event that damaged parts of the town, but the school itself remains a central institution for the community’s youngest students.
Enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade band, and the student body is diverse. A substantial share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic realities of the area. Racially and ethnically, the school is majority Black, with a sizable White population and a smaller but notable Hispanic share, along with small groups of Asian and multiracial students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the available records, so those dimensions of student support are not part of this picture.
On state assessments administered through Louisiana’s LEAP 2025 program, Union Parish Elementary’s results are well below the levels that the state defines as proficient. In English language arts, about one in five students scored at the proficient level or above, while in math the share was about half of that. Science and social studies results were lower still, with very few students reaching proficiency. These figures place the school in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency when measured against other schools in Union Parish’s district, a comparison that is limited because the parish contains only two districts. Because this is the only year of testing data available in the records, there is no multi-year trend to examine, and parents may want to discuss with the school how recent performance compares to prior years and what strategies are in place to raise achievement.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent from the available information. Discipline and course access data were not reported either, which leaves gaps for a parent looking at school climate and enrichment opportunities. For a school serving elementary grades, the typical focus is on building foundational literacy and numeracy, and the proficiency numbers suggest that many students are still working toward those foundations.
The broader Farmerville community offers a small-town environment where outdoor recreation on Lake D’Arbonne and the state park is a major amenity, and the town hosts an annual Watermelon Festival. Housing in the area is more affordable than the national median, and the town is classified as rural. The school district did not have publicly reported recent changes or strategic initiatives that were easy to find, so it is difficult to assess from this data whether there are active efforts underway to improve academic outcomes.
Union Parish Elementary is a school where families will find a diverse student body in a close-knit rural setting, but the academic results on state tests are low. Those results, combined with the absence of multi-year data and some student support metrics, mean that parents considering this school will want to ask the school directly about its instructional approach, interventions for struggling students, and how it measures progress from year to year. For families who prioritize affordable housing, a lake-oriented small town, and a parish-wide school system that keeps elementary students in one building before they move on to the junior high, the school serves a clear role in the community.
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