Jasper Elementary School

Jasper Elementary School in Jasper, AR, is a small, rural school serving 281 students from Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade, and it has achieved a remarkable academic turnaround that makes it a standout in the region.

Over the past decade, Jasper Elementary has transformed from a struggling school to a high-performing one, earning a 4-star rating and ranking 111th out of 491 elementary schools in Arkansas in the 2025-2026 school year. This is especially impressive given that nearly 99% of its students come from low-income families. The school consistently outperforms the state average in English Language Arts (57.6% vs. 39.4%), Reading (60% vs. 40.4%), and Science (56% vs. 44%). In fact, Jasper’s 4th-grade science proficiency rate (66.7%) even surpasses that of Skyline Heights Elementary School (55.5%) in the more affluent Harrison School District. This success is not due to higher spending or smaller class sizes—Jasper’s per-student spending ($13,106) and student-teacher ratio (14.2) are moderate compared to nearby schools. Instead, it points to effective leadership and instructional practices that are overcoming the challenges of poverty.

Jasper’s performance is particularly striking when compared to other schools in the same Jasper School District. While Kingston Elementary School has been volatile, swinging between 1-star and 3-star ratings, Jasper has shown steady, sustained improvement. Meanwhile, Western Grove Elementary in the Ozark Mountain School District has remained in the bottom 10% of schools. One area for attention is 5th-grade math, where proficiency dips to 28.5%, but overall, Jasper Elementary is a powerful example of a high-poverty school achieving excellent results.