JOURNAL STAFF

Louisiana Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley recently visited Bossier Elementary to name the school a 2022 Louisiana Comeback Campus.

Dr. Brumley was on hand to congratulate Principal Dr. Norcha Lacy and her team and to present them with a Comeback Campus banner. He also took a learning walk to see what specific efforts Bossier Elementary made that led to student growth.

Schools identified as Louisiana Comeback Campuses are those performing at higher levels in reading and math than before the pandemic. Bossier Elementary not only made overall gains in student achievement, but jumped an impressive two letter grades.

Comeback Campuses are schools that also increased the percentage of students scoring Mastery and above and decreased the percentage of students scoring unsatisfactory in both math and ELA on 2022 statewide assessments when compared to 2019.

Dr. Lacy, the 2023-24 Bossier Parish Elementary Principal of the Year, credits a change in school culture as what began the shift, then the rest followed.

Three more Bossier schools receive Purple Star designation

Bossier Parish is now home to eight Purple Star Schools, the most of any school district in Louisiana.

Three more schools – Apollo, Legacy, and Elm Grove Middle – were recently surprised with banners signifying their official state designation as Purple Star Schools. The Bossier Chamber of Commerce also designated the schools as Military Community Champions.

Legislation was passed last summer to give schools throughout Louisiana the opportunity to be deemed Purple Star Schools if they met a stringent set of criteria and set a high standard when it comes to providing various support services to military children and their families.

Parkway High, Benton and Cope Middle Schools, Benton Intermediate and Kingston Elementary were previously named Purple Star Schools.

Bossier’s Purple Star Schools will be recognized in Baton Rouge at the April 19th meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.