Summary:
The Waldron School District in Waldron, Arkansas, serves approximately 1,493 students across four schools—Waldron Elementary School, Waldron Middle School, Waldron High School, and Adventure Online Academy—and is ranked 175th out of 251 districts in the state, earning a 2-star rating. The district serves a predominantly low-income population, with a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch across all schools.
Among the schools, Waldron High School stands out as the only school to have ever achieved a 3-star rating, though it has seen a sharp decline from the 49th percentile in 2023-2024 to a 2-star rating in 2025-2026. In contrast, Waldron Middle School is a math powerhouse, with 6th and 8th grade math proficiency rates exceeding state averages in 2025-2026—the only instance in the district where grade-level scores surpass state benchmarks. Waldron Elementary School shows strong year-over-year improvement, with English Language Arts proficiency rising from 28% to 36.2%. Meanwhile, Adventure Online Academy, an alternative school with only 35 students, faces severe academic challenges, posting a 0% proficiency rate in math and a 6.3% rate in ELA, despite a very low student-teacher ratio of 1.4:1.
Key metrics reveal a spending paradox: Waldron High School spends the most per student ($16,860) and has the lowest student-teacher ratio among the three main schools, yet its test scores often lag behind Waldron Elementary School, which spends less ($14,018) and has a higher ratio (17.3:1). The district’s graduation rate is 89.5% at the high school, slightly below the state average, while Adventure Online Academy has a higher graduation rate (90.9%) but a higher dropout rate (3.4%). Overall, the district shows promising year-over-year improvement in test scores, suggesting recent interventions may be taking effect, though the alternative school remains a critical area for resource allocation.
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