Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford

Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford is an elementary-level community of big scale in Avondale, Louisiana, operated by Jefferson Parish, serveing 769 students in grades pre-K through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 70% bigger than the state mean of about 453.

Within Jefferson Parish, which oversees 74 schools and 46,790 students, Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford records that 41% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest comes out to 41% Black, 12% White, 3% multiracial, 2% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 19% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 56 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.8:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 79% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Jefferson Parish runs at roughly 68%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 27.4%, the actual is 16.3%, a residual of -11.0 points.

In the surrounding community, census data for Jefferson Parish shows median household earnings sit near $65,252, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 13%. Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford is one of 86 public schools in Jefferson Parish (combined enrollment of about 47,983 students).

Strehle Community School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford at 5th of 7; the average score across the group is 40.7%.

Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford operates from a residential location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford has increased 34%, going from 573 students in 2018 to 769 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share rose from 18% to 41%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 23.9:1 in 2018 to 13.8:1 today.

On this page, the feed for Emmett C.Gilbert School of Excellence at Ford typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.