Summary:
Zip code 72433 in Hoxie, Arkansas, is served by two public schools—Hoxie Elementary School (grades PK-6) and Hoxie High School (grades 7-12)—both part of the Hoxie School District, which serves a high-poverty community where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Comparing the two schools, Hoxie High School stands out for its strong upward trend in state ranking, climbing from the 27th percentile to the 45th percentile over two years, and it outperforms state averages in 10th-grade English Language Arts (40.8% vs. 37.2%), Biology (42.9% vs. 42.7%), and Geometry (21% vs. 16.5%). It also boasts a very low student-teacher ratio of 5:1 and a low dropout rate of 0.5%. In contrast, Hoxie Elementary School excels in early-grade Science, with 3rd graders achieving 48.8% proficiency (above the state's 45.4%) and 4th graders reaching 51.6% proficiency (above the state's 44.4%). However, the elementary school has a much higher student-teacher ratio of 18.1:1 and lower per-student spending ($11,444 vs. $13,600 at the high school).
Key takeaways include a notable "8th grade cliff" at the high school, where proficiency in ELA, Reading, and Math drops sharply compared to 7th grade, and an Algebra bottleneck where 9th-grade proficiency is just 14% (vs. 25.3% statewide). Despite higher resources at the high school, overall test scores remain below state averages, highlighting the challenges of poverty. The district shows "pockets of excellence"—strong early Science at the elementary level and strong upper-level Biology and ELA at the high school—suggesting specific programs or teachers are driving success, but these wins need to be replicated across all subjects and grades.
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