Peake Elementary School

Peake Elementary School in Arkadelphia, AR, serves 783 students from Pre-K through 4th grade and is part of the Arkadelphia School District, which holds a 2-star rating.

Peake Elementary is a school on a strong upward trajectory, having improved its state ranking from the 28th percentile in the 2023-2024 school year to the 51st percentile in 2025-2026. This is a dramatic turnaround, especially considering the school has the lowest spending per student ($10,525) among nearby schools and a higher student-teacher ratio (19.5:1) than Bismarck Elementary School (15.3:1) or Ouachita Elementary School (17.2:1). Despite these challenges, Peake’s proficiency rates (42.1% in ELA, 43.3% in Math) now surpass those of Cabe Elementary (29.7% ELA, 30.7% Math), though they still trail behind Bismarck (47.2% ELA, 43.6% Math) and Ouachita (52.5% ELA, 56.7% Math). A key area of concern is a "4th grade slump," where 3rd graders consistently outperform the state average in all subjects, but 4th graders fall below it—for example, 49.2% of 3rd graders are proficient in Math versus just 36.1% of 4th graders.

Peake serves a high-need population, with 68.07% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, yet it is effectively using its resources to drive improvement. This is particularly notable when compared to Cabe Elementary, which has even higher poverty (78.9%) and higher spending ($13,626 per student) but lower test scores. Meanwhile, Ouachita Elementary stands out as a 5-star district with the highest scores and lowest poverty rate (57.86%), showing that factors like curriculum and community support can drive success even with a high student-teacher ratio. For parents, Peake offers a school that is clearly improving and making the most of its resources, though it still has work to do, especially in supporting 4th graders through the transition to upper elementary.