Summary:
The Highland School District in Hardy, Arkansas, is home to a single high school, Highland High School, which serves 476 students in grades 9 through 12 and has established itself as a standout institution through strong academic growth and exceptional student support metrics.
Highland High School has shown remarkable year-over-year academic improvement, with Algebra proficiency soaring from 21.2% to 45.5% and English Language Arts rising from 33.3% to 43.1% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. The school now outperforms the state average in most subjects, including Biology (49.1% vs. 42.7%) and Reading (47.9% vs. 40.4%). However, Geometry remains a notable weakness at 24.5% proficiency, below the state average of 26.4%, with a stark contrast between 9th graders (62.9% proficient) and 10th graders (9.8% proficient). The school's state ranking has improved significantly, jumping from 86th to 50th out of 293 schools, placing it in the 83rd percentile.
The school's support environment is exceptional, featuring a very low student-teacher ratio of 7.3:1, which likely contributes to a high graduation rate of 94.1% (well above the state average of 90.1%) and a minuscule dropout rate of just 0.4%. Per-student spending is $14,544. While the Highland School District ranks 21st out of 251 districts in Arkansas (92nd percentile, 5-star rating), the high school's slightly lower ranking suggests the district's elementary and middle schools may be performing even more strongly, though the high school's recent improvements are closing that gap.
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