Summary:
In zip code 72029, there is one high school, Clarendon High School, serving grades 7 through 12 in the rural community of Clarendon, Arkansas, with a total enrollment of 193 students.
Clarendon High School is part of the Clarendon School District, which ranks in the bottom 5% of districts statewide. The school itself consistently ranks in the bottom 10% of Arkansas high schools, currently placing 279th out of 293 schools. A critical factor is that 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, indicating extreme economic disadvantage. Despite this, the school invests heavily per student, spending $17,275 annually, and maintains a low student-teacher ratio of 9.6 to 1, offering a personalized learning environment. The graduation rate is 80.9%, below the state average of 90.1%, while the dropout rate is very low at 0.5%.
Academically, proficiency rates are significantly below state averages across all subjects. For the 2025-2026 school year, only 17.3% of students were proficient in English Language Arts (state: 39.4%), 20% in Mathematics (state: 44.1%), and 26.2% in Science (state: 44.0%). Performance in advanced courses is particularly concerning, with just 3.4% proficient in Algebra and 4.3% in Biology. However, there is a positive trend: year-over-year improvements from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 show English Language Arts proficiency rising from 11.2% to 17.3%, Reading from 11.9% to 18.1%, and Science from 8.9% to 26.2%. This suggests recent interventions may be starting to work, though the school still faces immense challenges in preparing students for college and STEM careers.
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