Summary:
The Gurdon School District is home to a single high school, Gurdon High School, which serves 252 students in grades 7 through 12 in a rural Arkansas community where over three-quarters of students are economically disadvantaged.
Gurdon High School presents a complex picture. On one hand, it benefits from a very low student-to-teacher ratio of 9.7:1 and spends a substantial $16,666 per student annually—resources that typically support strong academic outcomes. On the other hand, its overall academic performance is well below state averages. The school's state ranking has been volatile, dropping from the 40th percentile (2-star rating) in 2024-2025 to the 14th percentile (1-star rating) in 2025-2026, though this decline appears driven more by other schools improving than by a sudden drop in Gurdon's own scores, which have remained consistently low. The graduation rate of 84.3% also trails the state average of 90.1%.
Despite these challenges, there are notable bright spots. The school's science program is a clear strength: overall Science proficiency (42.1%) nearly matches the state average (44%), and in the 2024-2025 school year, Biology proficiency (38.5%) actually exceeded the state average (37.7%). Additionally, 8th graders taking Algebra achieved a 75% proficiency rate, above the state average of 73.9%, suggesting an effective accelerated math track. However, these successes are overshadowed by significant struggles in other areas. Geometry is a particular crisis, with 0% of 10th graders proficient in 2025-2026, and overall proficiency in English Language Arts (26.3%), Reading (30.4%), and Mathematics (32.5%) all lag behind state averages by 10 to 13 percentage points. The combination of high spending and low results points to challenges likely rooted in instructional quality or the impact of high poverty, rather than a lack of resources.
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