Thirty-Fourth Street Elementary School

Thirty-Fourth Street Elementary School in Pine Bluff, AR, serves 399 students in grades K-6 and is part of the Pine Bluff School District, a district ranked near the bottom of the state.

This school has faced significant challenges, consistently ranking in the bottom 5% of Arkansas elementary schools for the past decade. In the 2025-2026 school year, only 1.7% of 5th graders were proficient in math and science, a severe drop-off compared to other grades. While the school saw year-over-year improvements—with math proficiency rising from 8.7% to 13.8% and science from 7.0% to 12.7%—these scores remain less than half the state average. A notable bright spot is the 4th grade, which achieved the highest proficiency rates in English Language Arts (24.5%) and Reading (26.4%), suggesting a potential model for improvement. The school spends $16,198 per student, which is over 60% higher than the per-student spending at nearby Moody Elementary School in the White Hall School District, yet academic outcomes lag significantly.

Comparing schools in the area reveals a stark divide. While Thirty-Fourth Street and other Pine Bluff School District schools like Matthews Elementary and Southwood Elementary all have 100% economic disadvantage and low proficiency rates, schools just a few miles away in the White Hall School District (like Moody, Gandy, and Taylor) achieve proficiency rates 2-3 times higher. Even more striking, Friendship Aspire Academy Downtown Pine Bluff, a charter school just 2 miles away serving a similarly high-poverty population, ranks in the 83rd percentile statewide, with 3rd-grade math proficiency at 79%—a staggering 62 percentage points higher than Thirty-Fourth Street’s 17.2%. This shows that high performance is possible in the same community, making the persistent struggles at Thirty-Fourth Street Elementary a critical area for focused attention and change.