Best Public Schools in Lincoln, AR

The three public schools in Lincoln, Arkansas—Lincoln Elementary School (PK-3), Lincoln Middle School (4-8), and Lincoln High School (9-12)—serve a total of 1,095 students within the Lincoln School District, a district ranked 151st out of 251 in Arkansas with a 2-star rating. A significant majority of students across all schools are economically disadvantaged, with free or reduced lunch rates ranging from 60% at the high school to 75% at the middle school.

Lincoln Middle School is the district's standout performer, earning a 3-star rating in two of the last three years and reaching the 56th state percentile. Its most remarkable achievement is an 90.9% proficiency rate in Algebra for 8th graders, far exceeding the state average of 36.9%, though its overall math proficiency is lower at 36.4%. In contrast, Lincoln High School faces significant challenges, holding a 1-star rating for the past two years with declining state rankings (22nd percentile in 2025-2026). Its test scores are critically low, with Algebra proficiency at just 7.1% and Geometry at 4.2%, despite having the highest per-student spending ($15,162) and a very low student-teacher ratio of 5.9:1. Lincoln Elementary School shows volatile performance, swinging from the 24th percentile (1-star) to the 63rd percentile (3-star) and back to the 42nd percentile (2-star) over three years.

A key takeaway is the inverse relationship between resources and results: the high school spends the most and has the smallest classes but performs the worst, while the middle school spends the least ($12,738 per student) with a higher ratio (16.1:1) yet achieves the best outcomes. This suggests factors like curriculum and teaching quality are more critical than spending alone. The high school does boast a strong graduation rate of 92.8% (above the state average of 90.1%) and a very low dropout rate of 0.3%, which may mask its academic struggles in college readiness. The elementary school's instability makes its long-term effectiveness hard to gauge, while the middle school's Algebra success offers a model for potential improvement across the district.