The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Brown Upper Elementary School
Brown Upper Elementary School serves third through fifth grade in Springhill, a small city in northern Webster Parish. The school is part of the Webster Parish school district and is a regular public school. It is one of the elementary schools in a community where the district has undergone consolidation; older students from northern Webster Parish attend North Webster High School in Springhill, while junior high pupils go to Sarepta. The former Georgia Howell Elementary campus has been closed due to unsafe conditions, with those students reassigned here or to Browning Elementary.
Springhill itself has a history rooted in timber and manufacturing, anchored for decades by a large International Paper mill. That mill closed years ago, and other manufacturers have also departed, contributing to a declining population and a local economy that the city describes as offering healthcare, family living, and schools. The housing market is modest. Home values in the area lag well behind the state average and are down from a year ago, reflecting the broader economic context of the region. A substantial share of students at Brown Upper Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which aligns with the area’s poverty rate.
The student body is majority Black, with a sizable White minority and small shares of Hispanic and multiracial students. Enrollment is on the smaller side for a school serving the upper elementary grades. The school runs from grade three through grade five, so there is no graduation rate to report, and because the school does not serve secondary grades, metrics like chronic absenteeism and course access that apply to older students were not available for this review.
State testing results from the LEAP 2025 assessments show that overall proficiency rates are low across all four tested subjects. In English language arts, about a quarter of students scored at the proficient level or above. In math, roughly one in five students met that bar. Science proficiency was similar to math, and social studies proficiency stood at the lowest rate among the subjects tested. These results place academic achievement well below what many families would hope to see. The school’s participation rate on the assessments was high, so the results reflect nearly the full student body. The available data shows only a single recent year of testing for use in a trend, so it is not possible to determine whether performance has been moving up or down over time. A parent may want to ask the school or district about the trajectory of student learning and what supports are in place.
For families considering this school, the context matters. This is a school in a community that has experienced significant economic dislocation and population loss. The district itself did not have any recent major changes publicly reported that would be relevant to a parent. The school does not offer high school programs, AP courses, or career and technical pathways because of its grade span, so those are not factors here. The academic pathway is the standard elementary curriculum leading into the district’s junior high and high school.
The peer environment is shaped by the demographics and size of the school. With a high rate of economic disadvantage and a small enrollment, class sizes are manageable and the school may offer a more close-knit setting. A parent moving to Springhill should weigh the low achievement data against the possibility that the school may be working to address those outcomes, and should ask about specific academic interventions and enrichment opportunities available to students in these grades.
See more original research from School Decision →