Summary:
Barling, Arkansas, is home to a single public school, Barling Elementary School, which serves students from Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade and is part of the Fort Smith School District.
Barling Elementary School stands out as a strong academic performer, consistently exceeding its district averages across nearly all subjects. The school has shown impressive improvement, rising from a 2-star rating to a 3-star rating over the past three years, now ranking in the 61st percentile statewide. Its most remarkable strength is in Mathematics, where 54.5% of students are proficient—a full 14.4 percentage points higher than the district average and 10.4 points above the state. This is especially notable given that 78% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, a metric often associated with lower test scores. The school also demonstrates consistent year-over-year growth, with proficiency rates improving in every subject area from the 2024-2025 to the 2025-2026 school year, including a 7.9-point jump in Science.
While the school excels overall, there are specific grade-level variations. Fourth graders are standout performers, particularly in Science (61.3% proficient vs. 44.4% statewide), while third graders show a need for additional support, especially in Science (32.0% vs. 45.4% statewide). Fifth graders posted the highest single proficiency rate in Mathematics at 63.1%. With a student-teacher ratio of 17.7 and per-student spending of $11,916, the school achieves these results without exceptionally high resources, pointing to effective teaching strategies and curriculum as key drivers of its success.
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