Huntsville High School

Huntsville High School is a mid-sized public high school in Huntsville, AR, serving 581 students in grades 9-12 as part of the Huntsville School District.

Huntsville High School is at a critical crossroads. While the school has notable advantages—including a very low student-teacher ratio of 7.2:1 and moderate spending per student—its academic performance has taken a sharp downturn. After years of solid 3-star ratings, the school has dropped to a 1-star rating (24th percentile) for the 2025-2026 school year. This decline is especially stark when compared to nearby schools like Elkins High School, a 5-star school in the 94th percentile, and Kingston High School, which despite high poverty rates achieves 50% proficiency in Algebra. Even within the same district, the much smaller St. Paul High School now ranks higher (40th percentile) than Huntsville. The most pressing concern is math: only 18.4% of students are proficient in Algebra and 11.8% in Geometry, far below state averages. However, there is a bright spot in Biology, where 37.4% of students are proficient—close to the state average and higher than the district average.

Interestingly, the school is improving in other areas. The graduation rate has risen to 88.2%, and the dropout rate has been cut in half to 3.1%. This creates a paradox: more students are staying in school and graduating, but academic proficiency is declining. A closer look reveals a severe gap in the standard math curriculum. While 59.1% of advanced 9th graders taking Geometry are proficient, only 4.7% of 10th graders in the standard course achieve that level. This suggests the school may be focusing on credit recovery and graduation over rigorous academic achievement. For parents, the key takeaway is that Huntsville High School has the resources and staffing to succeed, but urgently needs to address its math instruction for the general student body to reverse its downward trend.