Summary:
In zip code 71601, there is one high school, Pine Bluff High School, which serves grades 10 through 12 and is part of the Pine Bluff School District in Arkansas, with an enrollment of 688 students.
Pine Bluff High School is a school of notable contrasts. It spends a high amount per student—$17,203 annually—yet its academic performance is among the lowest in the state, consistently ranking in the bottom 5% of Arkansas high schools. For example, only 3.3% of students are proficient in Geometry, compared to the state average of 26.4%. The school serves a 100% high-needs population, with every student qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Despite these challenges, there is a positive trend: test scores improved across all subjects from the 2024-2025 to the 2025-2026 school year, with Biology proficiency nearly tripling from 4.2% to 12.8%. The graduation rate stands at 77.0%, which is below the state average of 90.1% but still a relative bright spot given the low proficiency rates.
The school's struggles are part of a broader systemic issue within the Pine Bluff School District, which ranks 247th out of 251 districts in Arkansas. The school's test scores often mirror the district's, indicating that the challenges are not isolated to the high school level. For parents, this means that while Pine Bluff High School has significant financial resources, it faces deep-rooted academic hurdles that require more than just funding to overcome. The recent uptick in test scores offers a glimmer of hope, but the school remains a high-risk environment for academic achievement.
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