Southside Alternative High School

As a minimally staffed unified-grade school in Monroe, Louisiana, Southside Alternative High School educates 165 students from grades 1 through 12, operated by Office of Juvenile Justice. Enrollment runs roughly 69% smaller than the state mean of about 527.

Across the 4 schools in Office of Juvenile Justice (264 students total), Southside Alternative High School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Southside Alternative High School lists that nearly all students (82%) are Black. The remainder comes out to 11% White, 4% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. By comparison, Ouachita Parish as a whole is about 37% Black, so the school skews considerably more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Southside Alternative High School has 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 8.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 52.1:1 average. Roughly 88% of students at Southside Alternative High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Ouachita Parish (around 67%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Ouachita Parish indicate 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 Southside Alternative High School is one.

The closest other public school is Madison James Foster Elementary School, roughly 1.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The campus sits in a city-core setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 11%: 148 students in 2018 compared to 165 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 87% to 82% across the same window. Class-load math has loosened: from 6.2:1 in 2018 to 8.3:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Southside Alternative High School community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.