Butterfield Elementary School

Butterfield Elementary School in Fayetteville, AR, serves 567 students from Pre-K through 4th grade and is part of the Fayetteville School District.

Butterfield has historically been a strong performer, ranking in the top 20% of Arkansas elementary schools for nearly a decade. However, the most recent data shows a significant drop in its state ranking, falling from the 87th percentile to the 63rd percentile. Its proficiency rates in English Language Arts (47%), Reading (47.4%), Mathematics (51.3%), and Science (46.2%) now fall below the district average for the first time in recent years. This is a notable shift, as the school had previously outperformed the district. Interestingly, Butterfield’s per-student spending ($12,253) is higher than that of top-performing Root Elementary ($11,531) and comparable to Holcomb Elementary ($12,261), yet its academic outcomes are now significantly lower. This suggests the decline is not due to a lack of funding but likely points to other factors like changes in curriculum, instructional quality, or school leadership.

Butterfield’s free/reduced lunch rate of 47.27% places it in the middle of the Fayetteville district, more affluent than Asbell Elementary (87.46%) but less so than Root (14.83%). Despite its recent struggles, Butterfield still outperforms many nearby schools in the Springdale School District, such as George Elementary and Linda Childers Knapp Elementary, which have proficiency rates in the low 20s and 30s. However, John Tyson Elementary in Springdale performs on par with Butterfield despite a much higher poverty rate (71.8%). Within Fayetteville, Happy Hollow Elementary has a nearly identical poverty rate (47.02%) but significantly higher test scores (e.g., 59.1% vs. 47% in ELA), indicating that school-level factors are making a real difference in student outcomes.