Summary:
The Cedar Ridge School District in Newark, Arkansas, is served by a single school, Cedar Ridge High School, which educates students from 6th through 12th grade with a total enrollment of 373 students.
Cedar Ridge High School shows a clear split in academic performance. Its strongest subject is Mathematics, where 50.3% of students are proficient, outperforming both the district and state averages. Science also performs well, with 43.8% proficiency. However, the school struggles significantly in English Language Arts (ELA) and Reading, where only 30% and 33.8% of students are proficient, respectively—well below state averages. This literacy challenge is most pronounced in 8th and 9th grades, while 6th and 7th graders often meet or exceed state benchmarks. The school has a very low student-teacher ratio of 5:1 and above-average per-student spending of $16,513, yet its overall state ranking is 164th out of 293 high schools (44th percentile). An overwhelming 99.2% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating high economic need.
Despite these challenges, the school maintains a strong graduation rate of 91.9% (above the state average) and a very low dropout rate of 1.2%. The key takeaway for parents is that Cedar Ridge High School excels in math and science, especially in the lower grades, but faces a significant hurdle in improving literacy skills for older students. The school’s ample resources and small class sizes provide a strong foundation, but the high level of economic need appears to be a major factor affecting overall test scores. The school’s strong math performance offers a potential model for improving instruction in other subjects.
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