Summary:
The Van Buren School District in Arkansas serves 11 schools, including six elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and two alternative schools, and is ranked 123rd out of 251 districts in the state, placing it in the 51st percentile for overall performance.
The district shows a dramatic split between its standout performers and its struggling schools. Oliver Springs Elementary School is the top elementary school, consistently earning 4 stars and ranking in the top 22% of Arkansas elementary schools, with 62.7% of students proficient in math compared to the district average of 45.1%. Northridge Middle School is the standout middle school, also earning 4 stars and ranking in the top 26% of Arkansas middle schools, with an impressive 80.2% of students proficient in Algebra. In contrast, King Elementary School and Butterfield Trail Middle School both receive 1-star ratings and rank in the bottom 27% of their respective school types. The most dramatic gap is between the two middle schools: Northridge outperforms Butterfield Trail despite spending $1,910 less per student, though Butterfield Trail has a much higher free/reduced lunch rate (80.61% vs. 51.33%).
Spending does not guarantee success, as Central Elementary School has the highest per-student spending ($13,624) but ranks in the bottom 35% of the state, while Oliver Springs spends just $9,564 per student and is the district's top performer. Van Buren Freshman Academy is a unique success story, with 61.6% of students proficient in Geometry—double the district average and more than double the state average. However, Van Buren High School shows a concerning decline, dropping from the 77th percentile to the 69th percentile in state rankings, with alarmingly low Geometry proficiency (14.4%) despite a strong 89.5% graduation rate and a very low 0.4% dropout rate.
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