Summary:
There is one middle school in the Estem Public Charter School district: Estem Junior High Public Charter School, serving grades 7 and 8 in Little Rock, Arkansas, with 401 students and a high-poverty population where 73.57% qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Estem Junior High Public Charter School is a standout for its exceptional Algebra program, achieving 88.5% proficiency in 2025-2026 compared to the state average of 36.9%, and a perfect 100% proficiency the prior year. However, this strength contrasts with below-state-average performance in general Mathematics (40.9% vs. 44.1%) and Science (39.3% vs. 44.0%). The school shows strong 8th grade performance over 7th grade across subjects, suggesting effective skill-building. Its state ranking has been volatile, peaking at 93rd out of 335 (4 stars) in 2023-2024, dropping to 151st (3 stars) in 2024-2025, then recovering to 131st (3 stars) in 2025-2026. The student-teacher ratio is a favorable 13.3, and the dropout rate is extremely low at 0.2%.
Key metrics show near-state-average proficiency in English Language Arts (40.2% vs. 39.4%) and Reading (40.0% vs. 40.4%), but consistent weakness in Science. Per-student spending is $12,641. The school's ability to achieve high Algebra proficiency despite serving a high-needs population is a remarkable outlier, indicating a targeted advanced math program. The main challenge is replicating that success in general Mathematics and Science to improve overall performance and return to its previous 4-star ranking.
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