Summary:
The city of Newark, Arkansas, is home to two schools within the Cedar Ridge School District: Cedar Ridge High School (serving grades 6-12) and Cedar Ridge Elementary School (serving grades K-5), forming a small, unified district with a total enrollment of 636 students and an extremely high rate of economic disadvantage, with over 98% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.
Cedar Ridge High School stands out for its strong performance in Mathematics, where 50.3% of students were proficient in the 2025-2026 school year, outperforming the state average of 44.1%. This math strength is particularly notable in grades 6 through 8, where proficiency rates are 7-11 percentage points higher than the state. However, the high school struggles in English Language Arts and Reading, with proficiency rates significantly below state averages. The school boasts a very low student-teacher ratio of 5:1, a strong graduation rate of 91.9%, and a low dropout rate of 1.2%. In contrast, Cedar Ridge Elementary School has experienced a sharp decline, dropping from a 3-star rating (60th percentile) in 2024-2025 to a 2-star rating (39th percentile) in 2025-2026, and now underperforms the state in all core subjects including English Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, and Science.
A key takeaway is the district's high per-student spending—over $16,500 at both schools—which is well above the national average, yet academic outcomes are generally below state averages, highlighting the challenges of serving a high-poverty population. The high school's success in math, despite its literacy struggles, suggests a targeted instructional focus, while the elementary school's rapid decline warrants attention. The district's overall 2-star rating and 44th percentile ranking reflect these mixed results, with the high school showing stability and a clear academic strength, while the elementary school faces significant headwinds that could impact future performance at the high school level.
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