Summary:
The Conway School District is home to nine elementary schools serving Kindergarten through 4th grade, and it ranks in the 65th percentile of Arkansas districts, offering a mix of standout performers and schools needing support.
The district's top performers are Carolyn Lewis Elementary School and Woodrow Cummins Elementary School, both consistently earning 4-star ratings and ranking in the top 20% of Arkansas elementary schools. Julia Lee Moore Elementary School is a notable third, having achieved 5-star ratings in prior years before dropping to a 3-star rating. Jim Stone Elementary School is the most improved, jumping from the 60th to the 75th percentile in a single year. At the other end, Ellen Smith Elementary School and Marguerite Vann Elementary School are the lowest-performing, with 1-star ratings and test scores well below district and state averages. A striking finding is that spending does not correlate with performance: the top schools spend less per student (e.g., Woodrow Cummins at $10,890) than the lowest-performing ones (e.g., Marguerite Vann at $12,542).
Socioeconomic status is a strong predictor of success, with the top three schools averaging 44% free/reduced lunch rates compared to 68.3% for the bottom three. This creates a significant performance gap, such as a 36.6 percentage point difference in 4th Grade Math proficiency between Woodrow Cummins (56.6%) and Marguerite Vann (20%). While the district average proficiency of 45.7% slightly exceeds the state average of 42%, the internal variance is stark, making it clear that families should research individual schools carefully when choosing where to enroll.
Thank you for your feedback!