George Welch Elementary School

George Welch Elementary School is one of the mid-sized elementary-level communitys in West Monroe, Louisiana, run under Ouachita Parish, with 429 students on its rolls from grades K through 5.

Within Ouachita Parish, which oversees 36 schools and 17,435 students, George Welch Elementary School is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, George Welch Elementary School shows that nearly all students (86%) are White. Other groups include 6% Black, 4% multiracial, 2% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 56% White, putting the school's mix considerably more White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, George Welch Elementary School has 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.6:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 14.0:1 average. Around 35% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Ouachita Parish runs at roughly 67%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, George Welch Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 58.6%; this one delivers 58.0%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Ouachita Parish shows median household earnings sit near $54,688, roughly 29% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 18%. In all, Ouachita Parish runs 59 public schools (combined enrollment of about 25,952 students), of which George Welch Elementary School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Claiborne School, around 0.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), George Welch Elementary School ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 52.0%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 4%: 446 students in 2018 compared to 429 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 94% to 86%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 22.3:1 in 2018 to 17.6:1 today.

On the community side, members of the George Welch Elementary School community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.