Summary:
The city of Palestine, Arkansas, is served by the Palestine Wheatley School District, which includes two schools: Palestine-Wheatley Elementary School (Pre-K through 6th grade) and Palestine-Wheatley Senior High (7th through 12th grade). The district is ranked in the 31st percentile statewide, and both schools serve a student population where over 99% qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating high poverty levels.
Palestine-Wheatley Senior High stands out as the stronger performer, particularly due to its impressive graduation rate of 94.2%, which exceeds the state average of 90.1%. The high school also benefits from an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio of 4.9:1, creating a highly personalized learning environment. In contrast, Palestine-Wheatley Elementary School has a much higher student-teacher ratio of 14.9:1. However, the elementary school has a notable bright spot: its 4th-grade students achieved a 58.9% proficiency rate in Science, significantly above the state average of 44.4% and the highest subject score in the entire district.
Despite the high school's strong graduation rate, both schools generally underperform state averages in core subjects like English Language Arts (ELA), Math, and Science. A critical concern is the "Algebra gap" at the high school, where only 24.7% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 36.9%, and 8th graders taking Algebra show a proficiency rate of just 31.8% versus the state's 73.9%. Overall, while the district excels in keeping students in school and graduating, it faces significant challenges in raising academic proficiency, especially in advanced math, which is essential for college and career readiness.
Thank you for your feedback!