Summary:
The Newport School District in Arkansas is home to a single middle school, Newport Junior High School, which serves 154 students in grades 6 and 7. The district itself holds a 1-star rating and ranks in the 20th percentile statewide, while the school has earned a slightly higher 2-star rating, ranking in the 34th percentile for the 2025-2026 school year.
Newport Junior High School shows a mixed academic profile. Its strongest areas are English Language Arts and Reading, where proficiency rates (36.2% and 36.9%) are relatively close to the state averages (39.4% and 40.4%). However, the school struggles significantly in Mathematics (33.5% proficient) and Science (32.0% proficient), both falling well below state benchmarks. The most critical concern is a sharp decline in 7th-grade math, where only 28.4% of students are proficient compared to 44.2% statewide—a gap of 15.8 percentage points. Science proficiency is the lowest subject overall and represents the largest gap from the state average.
A standout positive is the school’s very low student-to-teacher ratio of 8.9:1, which typically allows for more individualized attention. Yet this advantage does not translate into higher test scores, suggesting that factors like curriculum alignment or instructional quality may need attention. Notably, the school outperforms its district in three of four core subjects (ELA, Reading, and Science), indicating that the district’s overall scores are likely pulled down by other schools. Despite low proficiency, the school’s ranking has improved, placing it above many schools in similarly challenged districts. For parents, this means Newport Junior High School offers small class sizes and relative strength in literacy, but faces clear challenges in math and science that warrant close attention.
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