River Valley Virtual Academy

River Valley Virtual Academy is an alternative public charter virtual school located in Van Buren, Arkansas, serving grades K-12 with a total enrollment of 105 students. The school is part of the Van Buren School District, which is ranked 102 out of 250 districts in the state and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Despite being part of the Van Buren School District, River Valley Virtual Academy consistently underperforms the district and the state of Arkansas in most subject areas and grade levels across the ATLAS and ACT Aspire assessments. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, and Science are significantly lower than the district and state averages. However, the school's strongest performance is in 9th grade English Language Arts and Reading, where it exceeds the district and state scores. Additionally, the school has a very high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 65.54% to 67.62% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the district and state averages.

Interestingly, the nearby Van Buren Freshman Academy, which is also part of the Van Buren School District, generally outperforms River Valley Virtual Academy in test scores, particularly in Mathematics and Science, despite having a higher student-teacher ratio of 13.3 compared to River Valley Virtual Academy's lower ratios. Additionally, Fort Smith Virtual Academy, another nearby virtual school, also underperforms River Valley Virtual Academy in most subject areas, despite having a higher student-teacher ratio of 11.8. These comparisons highlight the unique challenges faced by River Valley Virtual Academy in providing a stable and effective educational environment for its students.