Best Public Schools in Zip Code 72941

The three public schools in zip code 72941—Lavaca Elementary School, Lavaca Middle School, and Lavaca High School—serve the small community of Lavaca, Arkansas, as part of the Lavaca School District, which is ranked 95th out of 251 districts in the state and serves 801 students.

Lavaca Middle School is the standout school in the area, earning a 4-star rating and ranking 65th out of 327 middle schools in Arkansas (80th percentile). It outperforms state averages in every subject, with particularly strong results in 7th grade, where proficiency rates exceed 54% in English, reading, math, and science. The school also excels in advanced math, with 77.8% of students proficient in Algebra I, far above the state average of 36.9%. In contrast, Lavaca High School shows a mixed picture: despite an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio of 3.5:1, its standard math scores are below state averages (14.8% proficient in Algebra and 15.1% in Geometry), though it performs well in Biology (45.3% vs. 42.7% state). The high school has a graduation rate of 88.0% and a low dropout rate of 1.6%.

Lavaca Elementary School performs near state averages in English and math but has a notable weakness in science, with only 37.1% of students proficient compared to the state average of 44.0%, driven by a low 28.0% proficiency rate in 4th grade. Overall, the district shows a tale of two math programs: the middle school excels at accelerating top students into advanced Algebra, while the high school struggles with standard math courses. The middle school has also shown dramatic year-over-year improvement, with ELA proficiency jumping from 29.2% to 49.1% and science from 34.1% to 53.1%.