Best Public Schools in Zip Code 71655

The eight schools in zip code 71655 (Monticello, AR) serve students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade across two main public school districts, Monticello School District and Drew Central School District, along with one specialized facility, and are characterized by high levels of economic disadvantage.

For parents, the standout choice for high school is Drew Central High School, which significantly outperforms Monticello High School in state rankings (47th vs. 10th percentile) and academic proficiency, especially in Algebra (43.8% vs. 5.2%) and Biology (46.1% vs. 20.2%). At the elementary level, Monticello Intermediate School is the highest-ranked school in the area (49th percentile) and excels in math, with 47% of students proficient. A notable anomaly is Drew Central Middle School, where an extraordinary 93.3% of 8th graders are proficient in Algebra, far exceeding the state average, though its overall rank is lower. In contrast, Monticello Middle School also shows strong middle school Algebra (57.1% proficient), but both districts see a sharp decline in high school math scores, suggesting advanced math is concentrated among select middle school students.

Key takeaways include a clear performance gap between the two districts: Drew Central School District achieves better academic results with lower per-student spending and larger class sizes than the Monticello School District, which spends more but sees lower test scores. Two schools, Drew Central Elementary School and Drew Central Middle School, report a 100% free/reduced lunch rate, highlighting extreme poverty, yet they show improvement and specific academic strengths. Finally, Arkansas Consolidate High School - Vera Lloyd is a specialized facility for at-risk students with only 10 students, and its test scores are not comparable to traditional public schools.