Horatio School District

The Horatio School District is a small, rural district in Arkansas serving 648 students across two schools: Horatio High School (grades 7-12) and Horatio Elementary School (grades K-6). The district holds a 2-star rating and ranks in the 49th percentile statewide, with over 80% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

Horatio Elementary School is a standout for its exceptional mathematics performance. In the 2025-2026 school year, it achieved a 57.4% math proficiency rate, which is 13.3 percentage points above the state average. The school outperforms the state in every grade level tested except 5th grade, with 3rd graders reaching 66.6% proficiency. This represents a strong 9.2-point improvement from the prior year. In contrast, Horatio High School shows a concerning downward trend, dropping from the 70th percentile (4 stars) to the 60th percentile (3 stars) over two years. While the high school excels in Algebra (43.1% proficiency, 6.2 points above the state) and Biology, it struggles with Geometry (19.6% proficiency) and general grade-level science. The high school also has a very low student-teacher ratio of 6.5:1, compared to the elementary school's 13.5:1.

A key takeaway is the "math paradox": the elementary school builds strong math foundations, but proficiency drops once students enter the high school, where 7th-grade math is already 6.9 points below the state average. This suggests a potential breakdown in math instruction during the middle school years. The high school's small size also creates score volatility, as a single teacher or small cohort can significantly impact results. Despite high poverty levels, the district shows resilience, with the elementary school's math success being a clear bright spot. The high school's low dropout rate of 0.6% is another positive, though its graduation rate (83.6% in 2019-2020) trails the state average.