Best Public Schools in Zip Code 72422

The three public schools in zip code 72422, serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the rural community of Corning, Arkansas, are all part of the Corning School District, which serves 805 students and holds a 3-star rating. The standout school is Corning Middle School, which earns a 4-star rating and consistently outperforms both the district and state averages, particularly in math and science. In contrast, Corning High School is the most challenged, with a 2-star rating and declining state rankings, while Park Elementary School shows strong recent improvement in English and reading.

Key metrics reveal an inverse relationship between spending and performance. Corning High School has the highest per-student spending ($18,224) and the most favorable student-teacher ratio (6:1), yet it has the lowest academic performance. Meanwhile, Corning Middle School achieves the best results with the lowest spending ($9,248) and a higher student-teacher ratio (12.9:1). Across the district, free/reduced lunch rates are high, ranging from 68% to 79%, indicating significant economic disadvantage.

Interesting findings include a dramatic drop in math performance from middle to high school: Corning Middle School boasts 72.7% proficiency in Algebra, but Corning High School falls to just 11.5% in Algebra and 15.3% in Geometry. Additionally, Park Elementary School has shown remarkable year-over-year growth, with English proficiency jumping from 27.7% to 42.1% and reading from 31.7% to 46.3%. A puzzling anomaly is the 9th-grade Geometry score at the high school (27.2%), which is significantly higher than the 10th-grade score (8.1%), possibly indicating a recent curriculum change or a strong cohort.