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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Arlene Meraux Elementary School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
583
Elementary
DISTRICT 523 · STATE 453
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ST. BERNARD PARISH·NCES 220141002449
Arlene Meraux Elementary School
4004 Paris Rd, Chalmette, LA 70043 · (504) 556-0900 · St. Bernard Parish
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL583 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 33% of Louisiana public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Louisiana public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.0:1 · STATE 14.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
70%
410 students
DISTRICT 66% · STATE 70%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 55 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 84 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 97 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 92 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 96 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 88 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (84) is 18% larger than its 5th grade class (71).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · STATE 65% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
LEAP 2025 2025-26 . % Mastery+English Language Arts
32.0%
LA avg 41.8% . -7.0pp since 2022
Math
20.0%
LA avg 34.2% . -11.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the LEAP 2025, Louisiana's statewide test, about 32 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Louisiana schools, those numbers are about 42 and 34. Reading and writing scores are down about 7 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 11 points.
LEAP 2025 results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 32.0% | 20.0% |
| 2024-25 | 37.0% | 24.0% |
| 2023-24 | 43.0% | 30.0% |
| 2022-23 | 39.0% | 31.0% |
% Mastery+, all students and all tested grades.
Source: LEAP 2025. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
30.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.7%
based on LA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 31% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% typical for Louisiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Louisiana's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Arlene Meraux Elementary School
Arlene Meraux Elementary School's state test result (30.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arlene Meraux Elementary School this school | 583 | 70.3% | 30.5% |
| Westside Elementary School Scott | 597 | 73.2% | 28.3% |
| Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary Carencro | 705 | 69.1% | 28.8% |
| St. Rose Elementary School St. Rose | 540 | 68.1% | 36.5% |
| Charles M. Burke Elementary School Duson | 564 | 67.0% | 40.3% |
| Jefferson School Jefferson | 619 | 73.2% | 24.2% |
Matched among Louisiana elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Arlene Meraux Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Louisiana | In St. Bernard Parish |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 30.5% | #318 of 583 | #5 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.0% | #443 of 582 ▼ 59 | #7 of 7 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.0% | #400 of 587 ▼ 70 | #7 of 7 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -9.0pp | #68 of 540 | #2 of 7 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 583 | #165 of 714 | #3 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.8:1 | #599 of 655 | #7 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.4% | #28 of 655 | #3 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.3% | #408 of 705 | #2 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +10.0% | #107 of 197 | N/A |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
583
+68 (+13%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
was 15.2:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 583 | 34.7 | 16.8:1 | 70% (410) |
| 2023-24 | 624 | 39 | 16.0:1 | 65% (408) |
| 2022-23 | 611 | 36 | 17.0:1 | 72% (441) |
| 2020-21 | 515 | 34 | 15.2:1 | 59% (304) |
| 2017-18 | 530 | 32 | 16.6:1 | 69% (365) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Arlene Meraux Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 10% (530 to 583); teachers up 9% (32 to 34.7).
About Arlene Meraux Elementary School
Arlene Meraux Elementary School is a public elementary school run by St. Bernard Parish in Chalmette, Louisiana. The school's enrollment of 583 students covers pre-K through 5. Statewide, elementary schools in Louisiana average about 453 students each.
Arlene Meraux Elementary School is one of 12 schools in St. Bernard Parish, which enrolls 7,592 students in total.
Enrollment at Arlene Meraux Elementary School is mixed, with Black students the largest group at 38%. It is also 31% Hispanic, 25% White, and 4% multiracial. For comparison, the population of St. Bernard Parish is roughly 24% Black. By the diversity index, Arlene Meraux Elementary School comes in at 69%.
The school reported 34.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 16.8:1. The 14.0:1 average for elementary schools in Louisiana is lower than this school's figure. Eligible students account for 70% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program.
Measured against Louisiana public elementary schools, Arlene Meraux Elementary School receives a C. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Compared with Louisiana schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Arlene Meraux Elementary School's results are 3.2 points below predicted: 30.5% against 33.7%.
According to the American Community Survey, in St. Bernard Parish, median household income is about $58,651, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 18% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 18%. Arlene Meraux Elementary School is one of 12 public schools in St. Bernard Parish, which together enroll about 7,592 students.
Lacoste Elementary School is the public school closest to Arlene Meraux Elementary School, about 1.3 miles away. Arlene Meraux Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Arlene Meraux Elementary School at 6th of 7.
Locale data from NCES put Arlene Meraux Elementary School in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Arlene Meraux Elementary School went from 515 students to 583. Its ratio of students to teachers was 15.2:1 in 2020-21, and 16.8:1 in 2024-25.
Topics for discussion here include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
St. Bernard Parish at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
44,419
Census ACS
Median income
$58,651
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
18%
Below federal line
Schools in county
12
7,592 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in St. Bernard Parish
- Chalmette High SchoolHigh · 2,193 students
- N.P. Trist Middle SchoolMiddle · 767 students
- Lacoste Elementary SchoolElementary · 621 students
- Joseph J. Davies Elementary SchoolElementary · 593 students
- Arabi Elementary SchoolElementary · 567 students
- Andrew Jackson Middle SchoolMiddle · 546 students
Other schools in Chalmette
- Chalmette High SchoolHigh · 2,193 students
- Lacoste Elementary SchoolElementary · 621 students
- Andrew Jackson Middle SchoolMiddle · 546 students
- Chalmette Elementary SchoolElementary · 467 students
- C.F. Rowley Alternative SchoolHigh · 103 students
Nearby schools
- Lacoste Elementary School1.3 mi · 621
- Chalmette Elementary School1.3 mi · 467
- Chalmette High School1.4 mi · 2,193
- C.F. Rowley Alternative School1.6 mi · 103
- Andrew Jackson Middle School1.6 mi · 546
- Arabi Elementary School2.4 mi · 567
Frequently asked questions
About Arlene Meraux Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Arlene Meraux Elementary School?
Arlene Meraux Elementary School enrolls approximately 583 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Arlene Meraux Elementary School serve?
Arlene Meraux Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Arlene Meraux Elementary School?
Approximately 16.8:1 students per teacher at Arlene Meraux Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Arlene Meraux Elementary School?
Student demographics at Arlene Meraux Elementary School are roughly 25% White, 31% Hispanic, 38% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Arlene Meraux Elementary School?
Arlene Meraux Elementary School is overseen by St. Bernard Parish in St. Bernard Parish.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.