58 Oak Park Dr
Madisonville, LA 70447

We moved here for schools and originally started at a private school before hearing amazing things about Madisonville Elementary. When I tell you Principal Candace Hickman runs a tight (and loving) ship, I mean it!! The facilities are great and my daughter is so much happier at this school. Can’t wait for my son to attend next year! We have nothing but good things to say about MES!!

First things first, I graduated with the class of 2020, so I just want to say that nothing I write is out of spite for the fact that we graduated on a bad note. This school truly is a toxic nightmare. MHS completely changed my parents’ perspective on Mandeville as a town in general. You would think that, in a wealthy-ish, suburban town, the high school would be full of classy and well kept kids. MHS students are anything but. All four years there, we had major drug issues, and I mean MAJOR drug issues. The administration is also a tragic situation. An incompetent principal (Bruce Bundy) who has been there forever, and unfit security personnel. The only good thing about MHS is that violence was very minimal (no more than 5 fights a year), but other than that, this school needs to go.

Unfortunately, the general education teachers do not abide by IEPs for special education students. Additionally, teachers do not pay attention to what their students are doing in class and they abuse technology, and students are exposed to negative, unethical, and immoral content. If you are a person of faith, your child will be exposed to explicit material in the curriculum and illicit behavior of students. When visiting with administration depending on who you get they will address it with the teachers but the problem will keep cycling and it never irons out. If you have the opportunity to go to a private school or home school I would recommend it.

It’s difficult to write a review because there are so many issues that stem from state and district policy. As a district the curriculum is terribly archaic. They use kill and drill worksheets, poor literature, they are not skilled in high quality teaching and learning or phonics, or mathematical understanding. It far lags the rest of the nation in every way and kids will not leave prepared or equipped. With that being said, the teachers have a positive culture and like kids and offer a positive sense of belonging. The principal is phenomenal and will listen to parents and advocate for kids and families. The teachers are undertrained and under skilled as far as effective teaching practices. Recess and cafeteria are understaffed and there is inappropriate behaviors that arise as a result from bullying, fights, and explicit/elicit happenings. Rewind the clock 40 years and it is very old school. They are quick to suspend and give punishments. Even the laptop is basic pen and pencil and there is no savvy tech integration to leverage higher order thinking. The people are good people, but the actual teaching is ineffective. I would still recommend a private school or homeschool if you have the opportunity. If not you will need to be heavily involved, advocate, question everything and go to the principal for everything. Do not assume everything is fine. The facility is beautiful and bulletin boards are picture perfect, so you must look beyond that to uncover the level of learning.