Best Public Schools in Zip Code 72473

The three schools in zip code 72473, serving the Jackson County School District in Tuckerman, Arkansas, form a complete K-12 pipeline that is achieving remarkable academic success despite serving a high-poverty population where free/reduced lunch rates range from 64% to 79%.

Tuckerman High School is the clear standout, ranking 11th out of 293 high schools in Arkansas (96th percentile) with a 5-star rating. Its proficiency rates are exceptional: 86.2% in Mathematics and 65.9% in English Language Arts—roughly double the state average. The high school also boasts a 94.5% graduation rate, a minuscule 0.6% dropout rate, and an incredibly low student-teacher ratio of 4.9:1, suggesting highly personalized instruction. Tuckerman Elementary School is also a strong performer, ranking in the top 12% of elementary schools (58th of 491) with 4 stars, and has shown dramatic improvement, jumping from the 44th percentile to the 88th percentile in just two years. Its proficiency rates (63.5% Math, 56.2% ELA) significantly outperform state averages. Swifton Middle School is the relative laggard, ranking in the 71st percentile with 4 stars. While it excels in Math (67.7% proficient), it struggles in Science (43.9%, just below the state average) and shows a notable dip in 6th-grade performance in ELA and Reading.

The most compelling finding is that these schools have defeated the "poverty paradox," achieving top-tier results despite serving a majority economically disadvantaged student body. This strongly suggests the district has implemented highly effective instructional strategies and support systems. The high school's math mastery is an outlier, nearly triple the state average, pointing to a specific, highly effective math curriculum or teaching staff. The data also reveals a strong pipeline: students entering the high school from the middle school are met with an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio and a curriculum that propels them to elite performance, with 8th-grade scores at the high school being astronomically high.