Cedar Ridge Elementary School

Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Newark, AR, is a small, rural school serving 263 students in grades K-5 within the Cedar Ridge School District, and it stands out for its exceptionally high level of economic disadvantage, with nearly 99% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

This school invests heavily in its students, spending $16,961 per student and maintaining a very low student-teacher ratio of 11.9:1—the lowest among nearby schools like Eagle Mountain Magnet Elementary School (25.2:1) and Newport Elementary School (15.1:1). However, this high spending hasn't yet translated into consistent academic results. For example, math proficiency dropped sharply from 48.9% to 33.6% in one year, well below the state average of 44.1%. In contrast, Sulphur Rock Magnet Elementary School, just 4 miles away, has a much lower poverty rate (45%) and significantly higher math scores (71.1%), highlighting how socioeconomic challenges deeply impact Cedar Ridge's performance.

Despite these challenges, there are bright spots. Science is a relative strength, with 41.8% of students proficient, nearly matching the state average. English Language Arts (ELA) has also shown improvement over the past few years, and 5th graders at Cedar Ridge outperformed the state average in both ELA (42.3% vs. 40.9%) and Reading (46.7% vs. 41.1%) in the most recent testing year. This suggests the school is developing effective literacy strategies, particularly for older students. The most critical area for improvement is math, where targeted intervention could help the school build on its pockets of success and better support its uniquely vulnerable student population.