Summary:
The Cabot School District in Arkansas operates four middle schools serving approximately 3,194 students in grades 5 through 8, and the district is highly rated, ranking 29th out of 251 districts in the state. The schools are split into two tiers: upper middle schools for grades 7-8 (Cabot Junior High North and Cabot Junior High South) and lower middle schools for grades 5-6 (Cabot Middle School North and Cabot Middle School South).
Cabot Junior High North stands out as an academic powerhouse, achieving a remarkable 100% proficiency rate in Geometry and 91% in Algebra, far exceeding district and state averages, though its overall state ranking dropped from the 84th to the 68th percentile. Cabot Middle School North is the consistent high performer in core subjects, exceeding district averages in English, math, and science while having the lowest per-student spending at $9,378, suggesting high efficiency. Cabot Junior High South is a rising star, improving its state ranking to the 80th percentile and also excelling in advanced math with 95.6% Algebra proficiency, and it benefits from the lowest student-teacher ratio of 15.3:1. Cabot Middle School South faces the greatest challenges, with the highest rate of economic disadvantage at 53.95% free/reduced lunch and the lowest academic performance despite higher spending.
A key finding is the "feeder school" effect, where academic and socioeconomic gaps established in grades 5-6 persist into grades 7-8, with Cabot Middle School North feeding into Cabot Junior High North and Cabot Middle School South feeding into Cabot Junior High South. There is no clear link between spending and performance, as the highest-performing school spends the least. Overall, the district improved in all core subjects year-over-year, with the most notable gains in science, jumping from 47.8% to 54.2% proficiency.
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