Summary:
The three public schools in zip code 72823 serve the Atkins School District in Atkins, Arkansas, educating 951 students from Pre-K through 12th grade in a community facing significant economic challenges, with an average free/reduced lunch rate of 70.6%.
The standout school in the district is Atkins Middle School, which is the only school currently earning a 3-star rating and has a history of being a 4-star school. It consistently outperforms both the district and state averages in Mathematics and Science, with particularly strong 7th and 8th-grade math scores. In contrast, Atkins Elementary School is the most concerning, ranked in the 33rd percentile (2 stars) and underperforming the state average in every subject. Atkins High School has a graduation rate of 91.7% and a low dropout rate of 2.2%, but its test scores remain below state averages despite an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio of 4.1:1.
A key finding is the dramatic performance improvement between 4th grade (27.1% proficient in Math) and 5th grade (37.3% proficient), suggesting the middle school is far more effective at closing academic gaps than the elementary school is at preventing them. The district also shows a general decline in performance from the 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 school years, with the middle and high schools seeing drops in core subjects like ELA and Science, while the elementary school showed some improvement. The district spends significantly more per student at the elementary level ($15,759) than at the high school level ($13,419), raising questions about resource allocation and effectiveness.
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