Mineral Springs School District

The Mineral Springs School District is a small, rural district in Arkansas serving 401 students across two schools: Mineral Springs Elementary School (Grades K-6) and Mineral Springs High School (Grades 7-12).

While both schools face significant academic challenges, Mineral Springs Elementary School is the relative bright spot, consistently outperforming the high school and showing a positive trend in its state ranking. The elementary school's strongest subject is Mathematics, with 39.4% of students proficient, and its 6th grade is a standout, achieving 64% proficiency in Math—nearly 20 points above the state average. In contrast, Mineral Springs High School struggles severely, especially in advanced subjects like Algebra (2.8% proficient) and Science (5.9% proficient). The high school does have a low dropout rate of 0.5% and a graduation rate of 85.2%, suggesting it retains students well, but academic proficiency remains very low. A key paradox is that the district spends well above average per student—$22,293 at the high school and $18,953 at the elementary school—yet test scores are among the lowest in the state, ranking in the bottom 7% of all Arkansas districts.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that the elementary school offers a stronger foundation, particularly in math, and is showing signs of improvement. However, the transition to high school marks a sharp academic decline, with critical weaknesses in STEM subjects. The district's high spending and small class sizes (a 5.3:1 student-teacher ratio at the high school) do not translate into high test scores, indicating that deeper issues related to curriculum or instruction may be at play. The 6th grade's exceptional math performance provides a potential model for what works, while the 0% proficiency in 7th-grade Science is a major red flag that parents should investigate further.