Best High Schools in Zip Code 72740

In zip code 72740, located in Huntsville, Arkansas, there are two high schools—Huntsville High School and St. Paul High School—serving grades 7-12 and 9-12, respectively, within the Huntsville School District, which is ranked 171st out of 251 districts in Arkansas.

St. Paul High School stands out as the stronger performer despite its smaller size and higher rate of economic disadvantage. While Huntsville High School has seen a sharp decline in its state ranking—falling from the 61st percentile in 2023-2024 to the 24th percentile in 2025-2026—St. Paul has shown consistent improvement, moving from the 49th to the 40th percentile over the same period. St. Paul also outperforms Huntsville in key subjects like English Language Arts (31.3% vs. 27%), Reading (32.5% vs. 29.1%), and Algebra (31.3% vs. 18.4%). However, Huntsville High School has a lower student-teacher ratio (7.2:1) and spends less per student ($12,266) compared to St. Paul ($17,255), which may reflect different resource allocation strategies.

A critical weakness for both schools is Geometry, where proficiency rates are less than half the state average (11.8% at Huntsville and 12% at St. Paul vs. 26.4% statewide). St. Paul also shows extreme grade-level fluctuations, such as 9th graders scoring 50% proficient in Reading while 10th graders scored only 27.8%, which is common in very small schools. Huntsville High School has a graduation rate of 88.2% and a dropout rate of 3.1%, while St. Paul’s dropout rate is just 0.9%. Overall, St. Paul appears to be on an upward trajectory, while Huntsville High School faces challenges that may require targeted interventions, especially in math.