Summary:
Zip code 71740, serving the community of Emerson, Arkansas, is home to two public schools—Emerson Elementary School (grades K-6) and Emerson High School (grades 7-12)—both part of the Emerson Taylor Bradley School District, which ranks in the 82nd percentile statewide.
Emerson Elementary School is the standout in this area, earning a 5-star rating and ranking in the top 2% of all elementary schools in Arkansas. Its students achieve proficiency rates that are dramatically higher than the state average—76% in Math versus 44.1% statewide, and 72.9% in Science versus 44% statewide. In contrast, Emerson High School also earned a 5-star rating for the 2025-2026 school year, but its performance is more variable. While the high school spends more per student ($12,953 vs. $11,600) and has a much lower student-teacher ratio (5.8:1 vs. 13.8:1), its academic scores are much closer to the state average, with Math proficiency at 54.2% and Science at 45.9%. This inverse relationship suggests the elementary school’s success is driven by factors beyond funding and class size.
Key findings include a notable drop in academic momentum from elementary to high school, and a graduation rate at the high school (85.7%) that falls below the state average (90.1%). However, a bright spot is the high school’s Biology proficiency rate of 68.2%, which is 25.5 points above the state average, pointing to a particularly strong science program or teacher. Overall, families in this zip code benefit from a high-performing elementary school, while the high school offers solid but more inconsistent results, with specific areas of excellence.
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