The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Mt. Hermon School
Mt. Hermon School is a single PK-12 public school that serves as the educational and civic center of the unincorporated, rural community of Mount Hermon in northwestern Washington Parish, Louisiana. For families considering this school, the immediate context matters: this is a remote place where the school building along Highway 38 and a handful of churches are the main community anchors. There is no downtown, no public transit, and the nearest town offering services is Franklinton, a short drive southeast, or Kentwood to the west. The NCES classifies the locale as rural and remote, and the built environment reflects that—scattered homes, the school campus, and country roads.
The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, and enrollment is small for a school covering that full grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a black student population representing a noticeable share, and smaller groups of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a level that places the school among many in the region where economic need is a factor in daily operations. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
State testing results from the most recent school year show proficiency rates that are low across all subjects tested in grades three through eight. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was modest; in English language arts, it was somewhat higher but still below the midpoint one would see across a larger set of schools. Science and social studies proficiency were both slender. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places Mt. Hermon above the midpoint compared to the two other districts in Washington Parish. That comparison set, however, is small—just two districts—so the relative position should be read in that narrow context. A single year of testing data is available here; there is no multi-year trend to examine, so it is not possible to see whether these results represent a stable picture or a shift. Participation rates were very high, which means the results reflect nearly all enrolled students in those grades.
Because the school serves high school grades, a graduation rate would typically be reported, but none was present in the data provided. That gap may simply reflect source limitations rather than anything about the school’s outcomes, but a family with older students may wish to confirm graduation rates and postsecondary plans with the school directly.
The school does not appear to be a charter or magnet institution, and its Title I status was not provided. No information on course access, discipline, or staffing was available in the source materials, so those dimensions of school environment remain uncharacterized here.
Housing costs in the ZIP code covering Mount Hermon are well below national and state benchmarks, and the area has seen a modest decline in home values recently. The national median household income and mortgage rates provide a broad economic backdrop, but county-level data for Washington Parish was not included, so a precise local economic picture is not at hand.
The district itself—Washington Parish—did not have any recent parent-relevant changes surfaced in publicly reported sources, so the school operates within a stable district context without major recent restructuring or initiatives that would be widely known.
For a parent or resident, the essential question is what this school offers a student given its remote setting and test performance. It is the only school in the community, so for local families it is the default option. The school's small size may allow for close relationships between staff and students, but the academic achievement data suggests that many students are not reaching the proficient threshold on state assessments. A parent considering Mt. Hermon School may want to investigate what academic interventions or enrichment are available, how the school supports students who are below grade level, and what the high school course offerings and pathways look like, since those details were not captured in the available data. The school’s role as a community hub is clear from the locale brief, and that sense of place may be a significant draw for families who value a tight-knit rural school environment.
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