Summary:
In zip code 72543, there is one high school, Heber Springs High School, serving grades 9 through 12 in Heber Springs, Arkansas, with a total enrollment of 483 students.
Heber Springs High School is part of the Heber Springs School District, which ranks in the top 13% of districts in Arkansas and holds a 4-star rating. The school itself has maintained a 4-star rating for three consecutive years, though its state ranking dropped from the 88th percentile in 2024-2025 to the 78th percentile in 2025-2026. This decline is not due to falling test scores—in fact, English Language Arts proficiency improved from 39.7% to 41%—but because other schools across the state improved at a faster pace. The school stands out for exceptional science performance, particularly in Biology, where 66.5% of all students were proficient in 2025-2026, far exceeding the state average of 42.7%. The 9th-grade class is especially strong, with 95.5% proficient in Biology and 68% in Geometry. However, math is a relative weakness, with Algebra proficiency at 31.6% compared to the state average of 36.9%.
Despite a very low student-teacher ratio of 8.1, which suggests potential for individualized attention, the graduation rate of 88.0% falls below the state average of 90.1%. The school also has a moderate free/reduced lunch rate of 43.89%, indicating some economic challenges among the student body. A notable pattern is the contrast between 9th and 10th graders: while 9th graders excel in Biology and Geometry, 10th graders show a significant drop in proficiency in some subjects, though they outperform the state in English Language Arts (47.7% vs. 37.2%). Overall, Heber Springs High School offers strong science programs and small class sizes, but families should be aware of the below-average graduation rate and the school's relative weakness in math.
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