Estem Elementary School

Estem Elementary School in Little Rock, AR, is a public charter school serving 672 students in grades K-6 in a downtown area where most students (84%) come from low-income households. Once a top-tier school ranking in the 94th percentile statewide in 2016-2017, Estem has seen a steady decline and now holds a 2-star rating in the 37th-38th percentile for the last three years, though it remains a stronger academic option than most of its immediate neighbors.

Despite its drop from elite status, Estem Elementary still significantly outperforms nearby traditional public schools. For example, while Estem achieves proficiency rates in the 30-40% range, nearby schools like Carver Steam Magnet Elementary School, Washington Elementary School, and Dr Martin Luther King Junior Leadership & Language Magnet Academy post proficiency rates in the single digits and low teens. Estem also achieves these results with far less funding—spending $11,417 per student compared to over $25,000 at some lower-performing neighbors—making it a more efficient use of tax dollars. However, the school faces stiff competition from Gibbs Magnet Elementary School, a high-performing magnet school in the Little Rock School District that dramatically outperforms Estem with 59.6% proficiency in English Language Arts and 53.4% in Math.

Estem's biggest academic challenge is mathematics, where only 35.9% of students are proficient—8.2 points below the state average—with a particularly troubling "5th grade slump" where just 27.5% of students are proficient in Math compared to the state average of 45%. The school also faces pressure from other charters like Ivy Hill Preparatory Academy, which has rapidly improved and now posts similar ELA scores. For parents in downtown Little Rock, Estem offers a solid, efficient option that is clearly better than most nearby traditional schools, but it no longer holds the elite academic edge it once had, and families should consider the high-performing magnet option at Gibbs as well.