Spradling Elementary School

Spradling Elementary School is a PK-5 public school in Fort Smith, AR, serving 307 students within the Fort Smith School District, where over 94% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, reflecting a very high level of economic need.

While Spradling’s test scores are below both the district and state averages, the school shows a slight upward trend in its state ranking over the last two years and has some relative strengths compared to its closest peers. For example, Spradling outperforms nearby Park Elementary and Tilles Elementary in nearly every subject, with English Language Arts proficiency at 27.8% versus 19.7% and 17.7%, respectively. A notable bright spot is 5th grade, where Spradling’s math score (29.7%) was the highest in its immediate cluster of Fort Smith schools, and its 5th-grade ELA score (29.2%) was second only to Sutton Elementary. This suggests that students who stay at Spradling may begin to close the gap by 5th grade.

The most compelling comparison is with Sunnymede Elementary School, located just 1.56 miles away and also in the Fort Smith district. Sunnymede has a similarly high rate of economic disadvantage (91.37%) but achieves dramatically better results—its math proficiency (41.5%) is nearly double Spradling’s (23.9%). This stark contrast shows that factors like school leadership and instructional strategies can drive success, even with similar challenges. Additionally, Spradling’s per-student spending ($13,041) is higher than Sunnymede’s ($11,773), indicating that funding alone isn’t the answer. While Spradling has ranked in the bottom quartile of Arkansas elementary schools for a decade, its slight upward trajectory and the example of Sunnymede offer hope that significant improvement is possible.