Best Public Schools in Mammoth Spring, AR

The city of Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, is served by the Mammoth Spring School District, which includes two public schools: Mammoth Spring Elementary School (grades PK-6) and Mammoth Spring High School (grades 7-12), with a total enrollment of 472 students. A critical factor for families is that 100% of students in the district qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high level of economic need in the community.

Mammoth Spring Elementary School stands out as a consistent, high-performing foundation for the district. It has shown steady improvement in its state ranking, moving from the 56th percentile to the 66th percentile over recent years, and in the 2025-2026 school year, it outperformed the state average in every subject for all grades. For example, 4th graders scored 59.1% proficient in ELA compared to the state's 41.4%, and 3rd graders achieved 61.5% proficiency in math versus the state's 45.5%. In contrast, Mammoth Spring High School presents a more complex picture. While it has a history of being a top-tier school, its ranking has dropped dramatically from the 90th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 59th percentile in 2025-2026. Despite this, the high school boasts an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio of 3.4:1 and a strong graduation rate of 91.6%, though its overall test scores now fall below state averages in core subjects like reading (30.2% vs. 40.4%) and math (34.9% vs. 44.1%).

A key takeaway is the "elementary success, high school struggle" paradox, where the elementary school's strong performance does not carry over to the high school, suggesting a potential transition challenge. Additionally, the district spends significantly more per student than the state average ($15,102 at the high school and $14,996 at the elementary school), yet the high school's scores are below average, which is counterintuitive given the resources. However, the high school shows a notable strength in Algebra I, with 9th graders scoring 40.7% proficient—15.4 points above the state average—indicating a targeted instructional success. The high school's year-over-year volatility, such as a sharp drop in Biology proficiency from 55.5% to 38.9%, makes its long-term performance difficult to assess, but the elementary school remains a reliable bright spot for the district.