Enrollment
332
Elementary
DISTRICT 294 · STATE 453
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RICHLAND PARISH·NCES 220135001106
Start Elementary School
883 Charleston Street, Start, LA 71279 · (318) 728-2074 · Richland Parish
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL332 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 26% of Louisiana public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- AThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Louisiana public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 14.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
198 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 70%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 15 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 40 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 43 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 35 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 34 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 34 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 31 | 9% |
| Grade 7 | 29 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 26 | 8% |
This year's kindergarten class (40) is 54% larger than its 8th grade class (26).
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
LEAP 2025 2025-26 . % Mastery+English Language Arts
39.0%
LA avg 41.8% . +15.0pp since 2022
Math
21.0%
LA avg 34.2% . +4.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the LEAP 2025, Louisiana's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Louisiana schools, those numbers are about 42 and 34. Reading and writing scores are up about 15 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 4 points.
LEAP 2025 results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 39.0% | 21.0% |
| 2024-25 | 38.0% | 20.0% |
| 2023-24 | 26.0% | 20.0% |
| 2022-23 | 24.0% | 17.0% |
% Mastery+, all students and all tested grades.
Source: LEAP 2025. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of LA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
25.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.4%
based on LA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% typical for Louisiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Start Elementary School
Start Elementary School's state test result (25.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Elementary School this school | 332 | 59.6% | 25.0% |
| Western Heights Elementary School Westlake | 343 | 56.6% | 44.0% |
| Branch Elementary School Branch | 374 | 58.8% | 35.0% |
| Goodpine Middle School Jena | 279 | 58.4% | 44.8% |
| Mangham Elementary School Mangham | 404 | 63.9% | 45.0% |
| Blanchard Elementary School Shreveport | 363 | 55.9% | 29.7% |
Matched among Louisiana elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Start Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Louisiana |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.0% | #377 of 583 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 21.0% | #429 of 582 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #302 of 587 ▲ 20 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +9.5pp | #59 of 540 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 332 | #497 of 714 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.5:1 | #586 of 655 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 41.5% | #425 of 655 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 59.6% | #544 of 705 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.4% | #363 of 436 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
332
+14 (+4%) vs 2020
+4% since 1990-91, when it was 320
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
was 18.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 332 | 20.2 | 16.5:1 | 60% (198) |
| 2023-24 | 335 | 19.8 | 16.9:1 | 47% (156) |
| 2022-23 | 318 | 18 | 17.7:1 | 56% (177) |
| 2020-21 | 318 | 17 | 18.7:1 | 59% (189) |
| 2017-18 | 351 | 18 | 19.5:1 | 62% (218) |
| 2015-16 | 424 | N/A | N/A | 37% (155) |
| 2010-11 | 417 | 25 | 16.7:1 | 63% (263) |
| 2000-01 | 310 | 21 | 14.8:1 | 46% (142) |
| 1990-91 | 320 | 22 | 14.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Start Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 5% (351 to 332); teachers up 12% (18 to 20.2).
About Start Elementary School
Start Elementary School, located in Start, Louisiana, is a low-enrollment elementary school. The school runs pre-K through 8 and enrolls 332 students. Elementary schools in Louisiana have about 453 students on average; enrollment here is 27% lower.
The 11 schools in Richland Parish enroll 2,694 students altogether, Start Elementary School among them.
The share of White students at Start Elementary School is 73%, a majority. It is also 22% Black. For comparison, the population of Richland Parish is roughly 61% White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 42%.
For every teacher at Start Elementary School, there are about 16.5 students; the school has 20.2 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in Louisiana, 14.0:1, is lower. There are 198 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 60% of enrollment. The average for public schools in Richland Parish is 76%.
Among Louisiana public elementary schools, Start Elementary School outscored 26%, which works out to a C on the allk12 Grade.
A school in Louisiana with Start Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch share would be expected to score about 41.4%. Start Elementary School scores 25.0%.
The school's county is Richland Parish. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $53,544 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 18% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 19%. Public schools in Richland Parish number 12, with about 3,312 students.
Start Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Rayville Elementary School, about 5.8 miles away. Within ten miles of Start Elementary School, there are 6 other public schools. In a group of 6 nearby schools with scores, Start Elementary School ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Rural: Distant.
From 318 students in 2020-21, enrollment increased to 332 by 2024-25. The number of students per teacher dropped from 18.7 to 16.5 over 4 years.
People who know Start Elementary School can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Richland Parish at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
19,822
Census ACS
Median income
$53,544
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
19%
Below federal line
Schools in county
12
3,312 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Richland Parish
- Mangham Elementary SchoolElementary · 404 students
- Rayville High SchoolHigh · 341 students
- Rayville Elementary SchoolElementary · 333 students
- Mangham High SchoolHigh · 294 students
- Holly Ridge Elementary SchoolElementary · 232 students
- Mangham Junior High SchoolMiddle · 216 students
Nearby schools
- Rayville Elementary School5.8 mi · 333
- Rayville High School6.6 mi · 341
- Rayville Junior High School6.6 mi · 145
- Ouachita Parish High School7.9 mi · 1,112
- Swartz Upper Elementary School9.5 mi · 350
- Swartz Lower Elementary School9.5 mi · 325
Frequently asked questions
About Start Elementary SchoolHow large is Start Elementary School?
Start Elementary School enrolls approximately 332 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Start Elementary School serve?
Start Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
How many students per teacher at Start Elementary School?
Approximately 16.5:1 students per teacher at Start Elementary School.
How diverse is Start Elementary School?
Start Elementary School reports a student body of 73% White, 2% Hispanic, 22% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Start Elementary School public or private?
Start Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Richland Parish.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.