Faulk Elementary School

Faulk Elementary School in West Memphis, AR, is a public school serving 523 students in grades PK through 6, where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and it is part of the West Memphis School District.

Faulk Elementary has faced significant academic challenges, consistently ranking in the bottom 6% of Arkansas elementary schools over the past decade. However, there are signs of progress. Math proficiency has shown a notable improvement, jumping from 9.8% to 22.4% in recent years, and 6th-grade math even outperforms the district average. English Language Arts remains a critical area for growth, with only 16.6% of students proficient. The school spends $13,367 per student, which is higher than many nearby schools, yet results have not matched this investment. A key comparison is with Richland Elementary School, just 1.27 miles away and also in the West Memphis district. Richland serves a nearly identical student population but achieves dramatically higher proficiency rates—50.8% in math and 37.6% in ELA—ranking in the 49th percentile. This gap suggests that school-level factors like leadership and instruction play a major role in outcomes. Another nearby school, Weaver Elementary School, spends even more per student ($25,226) but ranks in the 9th percentile, showing that money alone is not the answer.

Despite these challenges, Faulk is showing a clear upward trend from very low starting points, indicating that recent interventions may be starting to work. The school’s relative strength in math, especially at the 6th-grade level, offers a potential model for improvement. For parents, the most important takeaway is that while Faulk faces serious hurdles, there are nearby examples of success in similar communities, and the school’s recent progress suggests a path forward. Understanding what works at Richland and applying those strategies could be key to Faulk’s future growth.