DISTRICT SHOWS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH ON LEAP ASSESSMENTS, MAINTAINS TOP LEVEL PERFORMANCE
Livingston Parish Public Schools continued to demonstrate its standing as one of Louisiana’s highest-performing school systems, with students posting strong growth and achievement across multiple subject areas on the state’s 2026 LEAP assessments.
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) recently released the results showing notable gains in the number of Livingston Parish students scoring Mastery and Advanced in mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
The latest results continue to rank the district among the state’s Top 10 performers. The district improved its overall Mastery and Advanced scores by 2 percentage points, improving to 44 percent, which is a full 8 points higher than the state average of 36 percent.
“We are very proud that our students remain among the highest performing in the state. Much credit goes to our parents, employees and communities for their hard work and support of our students,” Superintendent Jody Purvis said.
At the subject levels, LPPS students posted their highest gains in ELA, with 52.3 percent of students in Grades 3-8 scoring Mastery and Advanced, and 55.8 percent of high school students scoring at the highest levels in English I and II. In math, 42.8 percent of students in Grade 3-8 scored Mastery and Advanced, and 43.9 percent of high schoolers scored at the top levels in Algebra I and Geometry.
Those percentages of students scoring Mastery and Advanced in other subject areas included 38.2 percent in science and 40.8 percent in Social Studies for students in Grades 3-8; and among high schoolers, 43.4 percent scored Mastery and Advanced in Civics and U.S. History, while 35.3 percent scored the highest levels in Biology.
LIVINGSTON PARISH STUDENTS EARN TOP 10 AWARDS AT NATIONAL BETA CONVENTION
Denham Springs High School Student Kate Dentro stands on stage, center, at the 2026 National Beta Convention to be recognized as one of only three students to be named a National Beta Ambassador for the coming year.
Students from Livingston Parish demonstrated exceptional academic achievement, creativity, leadership, and service at the 2026 National Beta Convention, held June 16–20 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, winning top honors in some of the convention’s most competitive academic and leadership events.
The top honors included Denham Springs student Kate Dentro being selected as the 2026-2027 National Beta Ambassador, and French Settlement High School winning National Champion in the Beta Blitz competition, and Denham Springs High School winning National Champion in the Senior Spanish Academic Test.
All totaled, students from Denham Springs High School, Holden High School and French Settlement High School earned seventeen Top 10 national placements in academic and leadership events.
ASSESSOR ANNOUNCES 26TH YEAR FOR PARISH-WIDE SCHOOL SUPPLY PROGRAM
Livingston Parish Assessor Jeff Taylor announced that he and local volunteers will once again provide school supplies to needy families in Livingston Parish through the ASSESS THE NEED school supply program, making this the 26th consecutive year to do so.
ASSESS the NEED is a not-for-profit program that provides supplies for Livingston Parish students in need of assistance. This year’s campaign anticipates meeting the needs of some 3,200 students in all the district’s 43 public schools, including Pre-K and Head Start programs.
Volunteers will be at the parish’s local Associated Grocers stores taking donations on Friday, July 31 and Saturday, Aug. 1, and then again on Friday, Aug. 7 and Saturday, Aug. 8. Donations can be given directly to volunteers at the stores or through Venmo.
The supplies will be distributed to the school prior to the first day of classes, which begin Aug. 6.
“Each year we are faced with the challenge of providing our children with the tools they need to be successful in the classroom, and each year that challenge is met with resounding support across our parish. We are looking forward to another year of making a positive impact in the lives of our students,” Taylor said.