Ruston Junior High School

Located at 481 Tarbutton Road, in Ruston, Louisiana, Ruston Junior High School is an average-sized middle school that hosts 585 students (grades 7 through 8), operated by Lincoln Parish. Compared to the state average of about 440 students per school, that is 33% bigger than typical.

Lincoln Parish comprises 12 schools with combined enrollment of 5,601 students; Ruston Junior High School is among them.

On demographics, Ruston Junior High School shows that 50% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 39% White, 8% Hispanic, 2% multiracial. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 37%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school reports having 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 41.0:1, putting Ruston Junior High School tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 58% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Ruston Junior High School is in the bottom 10% of Louisiana public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 42.7%; Ruston Junior High School posts 29.3%, -13.4 points below that line.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Lincoln Parish indicate the typical household earns roughly $39,172 per year, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 21%. Across Lincoln Parish's 14 public schools (combined enrollment of about 6,360 students), Ruston Junior High School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Glen View Elementary School, around 1.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Ruston Junior High School. Among the 4 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Ruston Junior High School ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 48.0%.

Ruston Junior High School operates from a town-center location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Ruston Junior High School has declined 4%, going from 611 students in 2018 to 585 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 57% to 50% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 17.4:1 in 2018 to 13.4:1 today.

On the community side, members of the Ruston Junior High School community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.