Summary:
In zip code 72024, located in the rural community of Carlisle, Arkansas, there is a single high school, Carlisle High School, serving grades 7 through 12 with a total enrollment of 280 students.
Carlisle High School is a standout for its exceptionally small class sizes, boasting a student-teacher ratio of just 8:1, and high per-pupil spending of $17,555, which is notably high for a rural district. However, despite these advantages, the school's academic proficiency rates are consistently below the state average in most subjects. For example, in the 2025-2026 school year, only 23.5% of students were proficient in Mathematics compared to the state average of 44.1%, and Geometry proficiency was critically low at 8.1% versus the state's 26.4%. A bright spot is Biology, where 10th-grade proficiency reached 43.1%, exceeding the state average of 35.1%. The school also maintains a strong graduation rate of 92.0%, above the state average of 90.1%, and a very low dropout rate of 0.7%, indicating success in keeping students on track to graduate.
The most compelling finding is the "small school paradox": despite high investment and low student-to-teacher ratios, academic output in core subjects like math and English lags significantly. The school's performance in Biology suggests effective teaching strategies in science that could be replicated elsewhere. However, a declining trend in math proficiency—from 30.2% to 23.5% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years—points to a systemic issue with math instruction. Overall, Carlisle High School is a well-funded, close-knit school that excels at student retention but faces clear challenges in translating its resources into academic proficiency, particularly in mathematics.
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