Summary:
The three public schools serving zip code 71923 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas—Peake Elementary School, Goza Middle School, and Arkadelphia High School—are all part of the Arkadelphia School District, which serves students from Pre-K through 12th grade with a total enrollment of 1,877 students.
Peake Elementary School stands out as the district's strongest foundation, being the only school to meet or exceed state averages in English Language Arts (42.1% vs. 39.4%) and Reading (43.8% vs. 40.4%). It has shown remarkable improvement, jumping from the 28th percentile to the 51st percentile over two years. In contrast, Goza Middle School is the weakest performer, significantly underperforming state averages in every core subject—only 28.7% of students are proficient in Math compared to the state average of 44.1%. However, Goza has a bright spot with 77.5% of 8th graders proficient in Algebra, far exceeding the state average. Arkadelphia High School is the highest-ranked school, earning a 3-star rating and showing a consistent upward trend in ranking. It excels in Biology (45% proficiency) and boasts the smallest class sizes in the district with a 7.5:1 student-teacher ratio.
A critical equity issue emerges in resource allocation: Peake Elementary, with the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students (68.07%), has the lowest spending per student ($10,525) and the highest student-teacher ratio (19.5). Meanwhile, Arkadelphia High School, with the lowest percentage of disadvantaged students (47.38%), receives the highest spending ($12,844) and smallest class sizes. Additionally, the high school's graduation rate of 79.8% is alarmingly below the state average of 90.1%, indicating a major challenge in keeping students on track to graduate despite strong test scores for those who remain.
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