Summary:
Zip code 72021, located in Brinkley, Arkansas, is home to a single high school, Brinkley High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 with a total enrollment of 170 students.
Brinkley High School is part of the Brinkley School District, which ranks in the 8th percentile of Arkansas districts. The school itself consistently ranks in the bottom 10% of the state, currently placing 268th out of 293 schools. Despite these low rankings, the school has a remarkably low student-teacher ratio of 3.2:1, allowing for highly personalized instruction. It also spends $16,455 per student, a relatively high figure likely driven by its small size. A key paradox is that while test scores are very low—with overall proficiency in English Language Arts at 15.6%, Mathematics at 11.1%, and Science at 16.2%—the graduation rate is a strong 90.0%, matching the state average. This suggests the school successfully moves students through to graduation despite significant academic challenges.
One hundred percent of students at Brinkley High School are eligible for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage that correlates with the academic struggles. There is a glimmer of positive progress in Reading, where the "All Grades" proficiency rate nearly doubled from 11.1% to 21.8% in the latest year, and 8th-grade Reading reached 35.3%, approaching the state average. However, advanced math remains a critical weakness, with 0% of 10th graders proficient in Geometry for two consecutive years. For parents, this school offers an intimate learning environment with very small classes, but faces profound challenges in raising academic achievement across most subjects.
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