‘Pairing Schools’: One Strategy, Two Very Different Outcomes

Across the country, some districts may be searching for ways to integrate schools by race and income, often in the face of deep-rooted segregation and perhaps even resistance from families.

One strategy, known as “pairing schools,” merges neighboring schools into two or more campuses serving different grade spans. It’s a model that has rarely been used in recent decades, despite its past success. Could it be a tool to create more equitable schools and improve academic performance?

This project explores that question through the story of Caldwell Parish, a rural, politically conservative Louisiana district that did what few others have pulled off: it restructured its elementary schools and integrated them in the process.

Veteran reporter Alyson Klein traveled to Caldwell to understand how it happened, and what it took to make the change stick. She spent weeks talking to teachers, students, parents, and district and community leaders, capturing the hard choices, emotional fallout, and unexpected upsides of a merger that reshaped the district’s schools. Caldwell’s success also stands in sharp contrast to the ongoing conversation in Washington, D.C., where efforts to pair two elementary schools sparked questions of trust, equity, and whether integration efforts are truly designed to serve all students. Caldwell’s experience offers both inspiration and caution as other districts, like D.C., weigh the tradeoffs of merging schools in pursuit of equity.

Photos for this project in Louisiana were taken by L. Kasimu Harris, a visual journalist from New Orleans whose images help bring the story of Caldwell’s schools to life.

We hope this reporting will offer a nuanced look at the real-life tradeoffs of paired schools and help readers think more deeply about what it takes to build and sustain diverse, equitable schools.