Best Public Schools in Zip Code 71701

Zip code 71701 in Camden, Arkansas, is home to six schools serving elementary through high school grades, split between the Camden Fairview School District and the Harmony Grove School District (Ouachita), revealing two vastly different educational experiences within the same area.

The standout schools are clearly in the Harmony Grove district. Harmony Grove Elementary School ranks in the 76th percentile statewide, with 57.1% of students proficient in math versus the state average of 44.1%, while Harmony Grove High School ranks in the 73rd percentile and boasts an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio of 4.8:1 and a dropout rate of just 0.7%. In contrast, the Camden Fairview district schools face severe challenges. Camden Fairview High School ranks in the 4th percentile, with only 1% of students proficient in Algebra and a graduation rate of 87.9% below the state average. A key metric is the massive performance gap: Harmony Grove schools score near or above state averages, while Camden Fairview schools consistently fall far below, such as a 14.4% ELA proficiency at the high school compared to the state's 39.4%.

The most compelling finding is that money does not equal success. The Camden Fairview district spends $3,000 to $4,000 more per student than Harmony Grove, yet achieves drastically lower results, highlighting that profound socioeconomic hurdles—with free/reduced lunch rates exceeding 98% in all Camden Fairview schools—require more than just funding. An interesting anomaly is at Camden Fairview Middle School, where Algebra proficiency is 55.5% because only advanced 8th graders take the test, masking overall low math scores. Additionally, Ivory Intermediate School shows a slight bright spot with higher math proficiency (24.2%) than the district's middle and high schools, though gains are lost as students progress.