Murfreesboro Elementary School

Murfreesboro Elementary School in Murfreesboro, AR, serves 383 students from Pre-K through 6th grade in a rural setting within the South Pike County School District, with nearly all students (99.22%) qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

This school has a notable strength in mathematics, where 49.2% of all students are proficient—outpacing both the district (44.9%) and state (44.1%) averages. However, this success is concentrated in the early grades: 3rd and 4th graders score well above state averages in math, but by 5th and 6th grade, proficiency drops below state levels. Science performance also takes a sharp hit, with 4th graders scoring above the state average but 5th graders falling nearly 20 points behind. In English Language Arts, the school trails the state average. Interestingly, Nashville Primary School, just 12 miles away and with a nearly identical poverty rate, outperforms Murfreesboro in all subjects, showing that high poverty doesn't have to limit academic success.

Murfreesboro spends $13,412 per student—higher than nearby high-performing Centerpoint Elementary School ($9,036 per student), which achieves much better results across the board. The school's state ranking has also dropped sharply from the 80th percentile (4 stars) in 2021-2022 to the 44th percentile (2 stars) recently, suggesting a recent disruption rather than a long-term issue. For parents, the key takeaway is that Murfreesboro excels in early math but struggles to maintain that momentum in upper grades, especially in science. The school's high spending and recent decline point to a need for a closer look at upper-elementary curriculum and instruction.