Mena School District

The Mena School District in Arkansas serves approximately 1,703 students across five schools: one high school, one middle school, two elementary schools, and one alternative school, earning a strong 4-star rating and ranking 45th out of 251 districts in the state.

Mena Middle School stands out as the district's academic powerhouse, ranking 59th out of 327 middle schools in Arkansas with exceptional math performance, including a perfect 100% proficiency rate in Algebra for all tested grades. In contrast, Holly Harshman Elementary School is a consistent improver, showing a three-year upward trend in state ranking and excelling in Science with a 54.8% proficiency rate, well above the state average. Mena High School demonstrates resilience, bouncing back from a dip to a 4-star rating in 2025-2026, supported by strong Algebra and Geometry scores, though its graduation rate of 85.7% is slightly below the state average. Louise Durham Elementary School serves the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students (68.07%) with a moderate student-teacher ratio, while Polk County Virtual Academy offers a niche alternative program for a small number of students, with a very low student-teacher ratio but a high dropout rate typical of such programs.

A key takeaway is the district's strong "Algebra pipeline," with overall Algebra proficiency (57.4%) dramatically higher than the state average (36.9%), driven by Mena Middle School's 8th graders and Mena High School's 9th graders. Spending does not directly correlate with performance, as Holly Harshman Elementary achieves strong results despite spending significantly less per student ($10,630) than the middle school ($13,553) or high school ($13,615). The district serves a high-needs population, with free/reduced lunch rates ranging from 58.65% at the high school to 68.07% at Louise Durham Elementary, yet overall performance remains solid, highlighting effective instructional strategies and school leadership across the district.