Shenandoah Elementary reports improved scores, facilities upgrades

Elizabeth Callaghan, principal of Shenandoah Elementary School, presented the school’s academic and operational progress during the Committee of the Whole session on Jan. 8.

Callaghan told the board the school enrolls about 570 students across pre-K to fifth grade, with roughly 60% economically disadvantaged, 51% African American and measurable percentages of students with disabilities (14%), gifted students (8%) and English learners (7%). She said the school’s School Performance Score increased to 89.4 (B) in the most recent year, a rise of 5.5 points over the prior year, and that fourth- and fifth-grade LEAP mastery/advanced rates for math and science were about 70%.

Callaghan described classroom- and school-level supports that she credited for the gains: targeted interventions, increased professional development, tutoring, new robotics and extracurricular programs, family engagement events and a partnership with LSU that provided student teachers and interns. She also listed facility improvements — interior door painting, new carpet in the auditorium and library, power-washed buildings and sidewalks, new exterior lighting and fans, and a new playground — and thanked facilities staff and the PTA for investments.

Board members praised Callaghan and her staff. Several members suggested replicating successful practices across the district and noted that facility upgrades changed community and student perceptions of the school.

Callaghan framed the school’s progress as both measurable and culturally resonant: rising test scores alongside events designed to strengthen family and community ties.