Other / mixed grade configuration · Lake Charles, LA

Barbe Elementary School

Federal NCES profile for Barbe Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 46/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 220033000215
0/100100/10046/100
👥 S:T ratio
35
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
64
📋 Attendance
54
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Barbe Elementary School earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Louisiana median.

#14 of 22
schools in Lake Charles · Resource Index
46
Resource Index · Typical
16.3:1
students per teacher
81.7%
free-lunch eligible

Barbe Elementary School has class sizes near the Louisiana median. Computed live against every Louisiana school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Barbe Elementary School ranks #14 of 22 schools in Lake Charles, LA.

School address

Enrollment

179

Louisiana · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

11.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

16.3:1

vs 16.8:1 Louisiana avg

-3% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

81.7%

vs 62.5% Louisiana avg

+31% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Barbe Elementary School compares with Louisiana and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Barbe Elementary School

Barbe Elementary School is a high-poverty, small combined-grade school in Lake Charles, Louisiana, enrolling 179 students.

At 16.3:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Louisiana median, within a few percentage points of the 16.8:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 81.7% of students eligible for free meals.

This is a small campus: fewer students than 91% of Louisiana schools, with 179 enrolled.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,330 scored Louisiana schools.

Against 122 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #75.

Its student body is predominantly African American (82% of enrollment) (diversity index 32/100).

Counselor coverage is strong, about 179 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 18.4% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

The surrounding Calcasieu Parish spends $20,543 per pupil, 25% above the Louisiana average, a better-resourced district than most.

Its district draws 17.7% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

The federal civil-rights collection also records 1 expulsion at this campus for 2021-22.

Among Lake Charles's public schools, it stands alongside Moss Bluff Elementary School (969 students): Barbe Elementary School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (16.3:1 vs 18.3:1).

Calcasieu Parish also operates Sulphur High School (1,911 students) and Alfred M. Barbe High School (1,908 students) alongside Barbe Elementary School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Barbe Elementary School compares

Barbe Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Louisiana and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Louisiana Louisiana avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 16.3:1 ▼ 3% 16.8:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 81.7% ▲ 31% 62.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 179 top 91% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

16.3:1
Leaner classes than 36% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
179
Bigger than 17% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
81.7%
free-lunch eligible - 31% above the Louisiana average of 62.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
16.3:1
students per teacher - 3% below state mean
Top 49% in Louisiana - lower ratio than 51% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
18.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$20,543
per pupil, district-wide - above Louisiana avg of $16,376
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 179 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 1 expulsion.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

African American 82.1%
White 8.9%
Hispanic or Latino 5.0%
Two or More 1.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.1%
Asian 0.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.6%

Largest group: African American at 82.1% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 31.5/100

Simpson diversity index - at 31.5, Barbe Elementary School is less mixed than the Louisiana school average of 43.9.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Calcasieu Parish, which includes Barbe Elementary School.

$20,543
Per student
+25%
vs Louisiana
Avg $16,376
+24%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 54.6%
State 27.7%
Federal 17.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Barbe Elementary School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Sulphur High School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Alfred M. Barbe High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Sam Houston High School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
S. J. Welsh Middle School Larger Lower economic need Lower S:T ratio
Iowa High School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Barbe Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Calcasieu Parish · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools in Lake Charles

6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Louisiana, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Barbe Elementary School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Barbe Elementary School

How many students attend Barbe Elementary School?

Barbe Elementary School has 179 students enrolled. It is a public school in Lake Charles, LA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Barbe Elementary School?

The student-teacher ratio at Barbe Elementary School is 16.3:1, which is 3% lower than the Louisiana average of 16.8:1 and 4% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Barbe Elementary School?

81.7% of students at Barbe Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Louisiana average of 62.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Barbe Elementary School?

The largest demographic group at Barbe Elementary School is African American at 82.1% of enrollment, in Lake Charles, LA.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Barbe Elementary School?

Barbe Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 46/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Barbe Elementary School rank among schools in Lake Charles?

By Resource Investment Index, Barbe Elementary School ranks #14 of 22 schools in Lake Charles, LA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Lake Charles on the city page.

Is Barbe Elementary School a good school?

Barbe Elementary School earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Louisiana median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Calcasieu Parish?

Besides Barbe Elementary School, Calcasieu Parish also operates Sulphur High School (1,911 students), Alfred M. Barbe High School (1,908 students), and Sam Houston High School (1,141 students). See the Calcasieu Parish district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.