Summary:
Zip code 72227 is home to a single elementary school, McDermott Elementary School, which serves grades Kindergarten through 5th grade within the Little Rock School District.
McDermott Elementary School is a small school with 254 students and a student-teacher ratio of 14.1:1. The school faces significant challenges, as nearly all of its students (98.82%) come from economically disadvantaged households, qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Despite spending a substantial $20,488 per student—a figure likely driven by the high level of need—academic performance is critically low. The school ranks in the bottom 5% of all Arkansas elementary schools (467th out of 491) and has a 1-star rating. Proficiency rates for the 2025-2026 school year are roughly half or less than district averages: just 18.7% in English Language Arts, 19.3% in Reading, 13.9% in Mathematics, and 17.6% in Science. This represents a sharp decline from previous years, as the school has dropped from the 14th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 5th percentile currently.
A particularly concerning finding is the dramatic drop in performance between 3rd and 4th grade. For example, 3rd-grade math proficiency is 20%, while 4th-grade math proficiency plummets to just 8.7%. Similarly, 3rd-grade English Language Arts proficiency is 28%, compared to only 10.1% in 4th grade. This grade-level variability suggests a specific cohort of students may be struggling, or that a change in instruction or accumulated learning loss is taking effect. The data clearly shows that despite high per-student spending, McDermott Elementary School is not achieving its academic goals and is on a concerning downward trend, making the 4th grade a critical target for immediate intervention.
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