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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
362
Middle
DISTRICT 456 · STATE 440
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RAPIDES PARISH·NCES 220129001055
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School
3100 Jones Street, Alexandria, LA 71302 · (318) 445-6241 · Rapides Parish
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL362 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 39% of Louisiana public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 41.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
353 students
DISTRICT 80% · STATE 70%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 100 | 28% |
| Grade 7 | 124 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 138 | 38% |
Student demographics
6%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 60% · 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
25.0%
LA avg 41.8% . -4.0pp since 2022
Math
19.0%
LA avg 34.2% . +3.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the LEAP 2025, Louisiana's statewide test, about 25 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 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 4 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 3 points.
LEAP 2025 results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 25.0% | 19.0% |
| 2024-25 | 29.0% | 18.0% |
| 2023-24 | 27.0% | 13.0% |
| 2022-23 | 29.0% | 16.0% |
% 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
18.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
14.1%
based on LA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 14% 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 Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School's state test result (18.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School this school | 362 | 97.5% | 18.0% |
| Carroll Junior High School Monroe | 348 | 94.3% | 9.8% |
| Richwood Junior High School Monroe | 347 | 93.4% | 13.0% |
| Natchitoches Jr. High School Natchitoches | 371 | 97.8% | 23.5% |
| Martin Luther King Junior High School Monroe | 350 | 92.0% | 14.7% |
| Alexandria Middle Magnet School Alexandria | 469 | 95.1% | 15.2% |
Matched among Louisiana middle 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 Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Louisiana | In Rapides Parish |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.0% | #173 of 213 | #5 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.0% | #156 of 210 ▼ 3 | #5 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 25.0% | #179 of 213 ▼ 20 | #6 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -0.5pp | #60 of 197 | #2 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 362 | #121 of 220 | #5 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.4:1 | #48 of 195 | #2 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 5.9% | #193 of 195 | #6 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.5% | #3 of 214 | #1 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -28.7% | #30 of 162 | #1 of 6 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
362
+33 (+10%) vs 2020
-22% since 1990-91, when it was 466
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 362 | 31.7 | 11.4:1 | 98% (353) |
| 2023-24 | 415 | 35.5 | 11.7:1 | 92% (381) |
| 2022-23 | 415 | 31.6 | 13.1:1 | 95% (394) |
| 2020-21 | 329 | 21 | 15.7:1 | 80% (264) |
| 2017-18 | 508 | 29 | 17.5:1 | 93% (473) |
| 2015-16 | 479 | 30 | 16.0:1 | 96% (458) |
| 2010-11 | 446 | 34 | 13.1:1 | 84% (373) |
| 2000-01 | 361 | 23 | 15.7:1 | 73% (264) |
| 1990-91 | 466 | 23 | 20.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School.
Since 2017-18: students down 29% (508 to 362); teachers up 9% (29 to 31.7).
About Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is a low-enrollment middle-grades school serving families in Alexandria, Louisiana. Enrolled students number 362 students, in grades 6 through 8.
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is part of a district of 43 schools: Rapides Parish, with 21,340 students.
Black students are the large majority at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School, with 97% of enrollment. By comparison, Rapides Parish residents are about 31% Black. By the diversity index, Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School comes in at 6%.
The school reported 31.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 11.4:1. For comparison, middle schools in Louisiana average 41.0:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 98%. Across public schools in Rapides Parish, the average is 77%.
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is graded C+ by allk12, scoring above 39% of Louisiana public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
A school with Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School's lunch-eligibility share in Louisiana is predicted to score 14.1%. Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School scores 18.0%, 3.9 points above that line.
County data help place the school in context: in Rapides Parish, median household income is about $54,967, roughly 23% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 15%. The public schools of Rapides Parish number 51 and enroll about 21,481.
The shortest distance from Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School to another public school is about 0.3 miles, to Peabody Magnet High School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School ranks 6th of 7 on average proficiency.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Small, or inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School went from 329 students to 362. The ratio was 15.7:1 in 2020-21 and 11.4:1 in 2024-25.
Threads on this page can be about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Rapides Parish at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
127,527
Census ACS
Median income
$54,967
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
51
21,481 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Rapides Parish
- Alexandria Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,475 students
- Pineville High SchoolHigh · 1,271 students
- Peabody Magnet High SchoolHigh · 1,071 students
- J.I. Barron Sr. Elementary SchoolElementary · 924 students
- Buckeye High SchoolHigh · 915 students
- Tioga High SchoolHigh · 881 students
Other schools in Alexandria
- Alexandria Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,475 students
- Peabody Magnet High SchoolHigh · 1,071 students
- Scott M. Brame Middle SchoolMiddle · 709 students
- Cherokee Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- J.B. Nachman Elementary SchoolElementary · 546 students
- Mabel Brasher MontessoriElementary · 508 students
Nearby schools
- Peabody Magnet High School0.3 mi · 1,071
- Rapides Training Academy0.8 mi · 69
- Peabody Montessori Elementary School0.9 mi · 466
- Alma Redwine Elementary1.0 mi · 225
- Acadian Elementary1.3 mi · 270
- Bolton Academy1.4 mi · 372
Frequently asked questions
About Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School?
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School enrolls approximately 362 students in grades 06-08.
Is Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is approximately 11.4:1 (32 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School?
Student demographics at Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School are roughly 2% White, 0% Hispanic, 97% Black, 1% Two or more.
What district is Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School in?
Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School is part of Rapides Parish.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.