Summary:
The Fountain Lake School District in Hot Springs, Arkansas, contains one middle school, Fountain Lake Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 with 389 students.
Fountain Lake Middle School has experienced a significant decline in its state ranking, dropping from the 65th percentile (3 stars) in 2022-2023 to the 31st percentile (2 stars) for the 2025-2026 school year. This 34-percentile-point drop is a major red flag. Overall proficiency rates for the 2025-2026 school year are below state averages in all core subjects: English Language Arts (29% vs. 39.4%), Reading (31.3% vs. 40.4%), Mathematics (37.3% vs. 44.1%), and Science (34.2% vs. 44%). However, performance varies dramatically by grade. Seventh-grade math is a relative strength at 52.6% proficiency, outperforming the state average of 44.2%, while sixth-grade math is a critical weakness at just 25.3% proficiency, far below the state's 45.1%. This suggests a potential transition issue for students entering sixth grade.
An interesting anomaly is the school's Algebra proficiency rate of 60.7% for 8th graders, which is significantly higher than the district's overall Algebra rate of 25.5%. This likely reflects a select group of advanced students rather than the general population. With a low student-teacher ratio of 10.9:1 and spending of $8,891 per student, the school has favorable resources that are not translating into above-average academic outcomes. Over half of the students (54.76%) are economically disadvantaged, which may be a factor, but the sharp ranking decline and inconsistent grade-level performance warrant a closer look at curriculum and instructional changes between the 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 school years.
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