Summary:
The Smackover Norphlet School District in Arkansas is home to one middle school, Norphlet Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 with an enrollment of 338 students and a student-teacher ratio of 13.9:1.
Norphlet Middle School presents a mixed picture of performance. The school's strongest grade is 5th grade, where students significantly outperformed the state average in all subjects, particularly in Mathematics (61.8% proficient vs. 45% statewide) and Science (60.5% vs. 43.8%). However, 6th grade shows a dramatic struggle, with proficiency rates dropping sharply—for example, only 30.3% of 6th graders were proficient in Mathematics compared to 61.8% of 5th graders. This suggests a potential transition issue or a difference in cohort ability that parents should be aware of. Overall, the school is competitive with state averages in Mathematics (45.5% vs. 44.1% statewide) but slightly below in English Language Arts (39.1% vs. 39.4%) and Science (43.4% vs. 44%).
On a positive note, the school has shown strong year-over-year improvement from the 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 school year, with proficiency gains of 7 to 9.5 percentage points across all subjects. Despite this progress, the school's state ranking remains in the bottom half (46th percentile) with a 2-star rating, and the Smackover Norphlet School District is ranked 91st out of 251 districts in Arkansas (64th percentile, 3 stars). With nearly 59% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, the school is performing well for its demographic profile, but the significant gap between 5th and 6th grade performance is a key area for parents to investigate further.
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