Summary:
The Pea Ridge School District in Arkansas operates two middle-level schools, Pea Ridge Middle School (serving grades 5-6) and Pea Ridge Junior High School (serving grades 7-9), which together educate 1,087 students and have earned the district a 3-star rating, ranking 108th out of 251 in the state.
Pea Ridge Middle School is the standout performer, consistently exceeding state averages across all subjects. It boasts a 4-star rating (85th percentile) and impressive proficiency rates of 65.5% in Math and 46.7% in Reading, compared to state averages of 44.1% and 40.4%. In contrast, Pea Ridge Junior High School is a 3-star school (57th percentile) that generally performs at or slightly below state averages, with overall Math proficiency at 42.9%. The most striking difference is the "6th to 7th grade cliff": 6th graders at the Middle School achieve 73.7% Math proficiency, but 7th graders at the Junior High drop to 52.5%, and by 8th grade, general Math proficiency falls to just 24.2%. This suggests a significant challenge in curriculum alignment or instruction at the Junior High level.
Interestingly, the Junior High excels in advanced courses, with 9th graders achieving 72.4% proficiency in Geometry and 75.3% in Biology, far exceeding state averages. This creates a two-tier system where advanced students thrive while many others struggle. A resource paradox also exists: the Junior High has a better student-to-teacher ratio (14.6:1) than the Middle School (21.9:1) but produces worse outcomes, pointing to issues beyond class size. On a positive note, both schools showed improvement from the 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 school year, suggesting district-wide initiatives may be gaining traction, though the performance gap between the two schools remains large.
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