Lakeside Junior High School

Lakeside Junior High School is an alternative public school serving grades 8-9 in the Springdale School District in Arkansas. With 675 students and a student-teacher ratio of 12.8, Lakeside Junior High has a high percentage of free and reduced lunch recipients at 88%, indicating a high-need student population.

Academically, Lakeside Junior High School significantly underperforms compared to the Springdale School District and the state of Arkansas across most subject areas and grade levels. For example, in 2024-2025, only 19.3% of Lakeside students are projected to be proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 31.8% for the district and 34.7% for the state. The school's math proficiency rates are also low, with only 36.8% projected to be proficient or better, compared to 36.9% for the district and 38.7% for the state. In contrast, other junior high schools in the district, such as Central Junior High and Southwest Junior High, generally perform better than Lakeside Junior High across academic subjects.

Despite having a higher per-student spending of $11,033 compared to the other nearby schools in the Springdale district, which range from $8,149 to $12,910 per student, and a lower student-teacher ratio of 12.8, Lakeside Junior High School has consistently underperformed the district and state averages in academic proficiency over the past few years. This persistent challenge in improving student outcomes may be related to the high concentration of low-income students the school serves, which could require targeted interventions and resource allocation to address the unique needs of the student population.