Opelousas Junior High School

Opelousas Junior High School is a middle-grades school of low-enrollment scale in Opelousas, Louisiana, run under St. Landry Parish, teacheing 314 students in grades 7 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 440 students per school, that is 29% smaller than typical.

St. Landry Parish runs 32 schools in total, collectively educating 10,982 students. Opelousas Junior High School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Opelousas Junior High School shows that nearly all students (89%) are Black. Beyond that, the school shows 6% White, 3% Hispanic. By comparison, St. Landry Parish as a whole is about 40% Black, so the school skews noticeably more Black than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, Opelousas Junior High School logs 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 10.2:1. The state averages around 41.0:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 93% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against St. Landry Parish (around 80%), the school's rate is north of typical.

With demographic context factored in, Opelousas Junior High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 17.3%, the actual is 14.5%, a residual of -2.8 points.

In the surrounding community, St. Landry Parish reports that the typical household earns roughly $44,462 per year, 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 22% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Opelousas Junior High School is one of 37 public schools in St. Landry Parish (combined enrollment of about 11,731 students).

Nearest neighbor: Opelousas Middle School, around 0.5 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Opelousas Junior High School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Opelousas Junior High School at 5th of 7; the average score across the group is 25.1%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Opelousas Junior High School has declined 30%, going from 447 students in 2018 to 314 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 18.4:1 in 2018 to 10.2:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.