Summary:
In zip code 72941, there is one elementary school, Lavaca Elementary School, serving grades PK through 4 with 322 students in the Lavaca area of Arkansas.
Lavaca Elementary School is part of the Lavaca School District, which ranks in the 62nd percentile among Arkansas districts. The school has experienced a notable decline in its state ranking over the past three years, dropping from the 66th percentile to the 45th percentile. Despite this relative decline, the school's own test scores have generally improved year-over-year. For the 2025-2026 school year, the school performs above the state average in English Language Arts (43.1% vs. 39.4%) and is essentially tied with the state in Mathematics (44.0% vs. 44.1%). However, it falls below state averages in Reading (37.9% vs. 40.4%) and Science (37.1% vs. 44.0%). The school has a student-teacher ratio of 16.4:1 and spends $12,033 per student, with 51.55% of students receiving free or reduced lunch.
The most critical finding is a dramatic drop in performance between 3rd and 4th grade. In the 2025-2026 school year, 4th graders fell significantly behind 3rd graders in every subject, with the largest decline in Science (a 17.7-point drop from 45.7% to 28.0% proficiency). This pattern suggests a systemic issue at the 4th-grade level that warrants investigation. Additionally, the school shows an unusual split between outperforming the state in English Language Arts while underperforming in Reading, which may indicate specific strengths in writing or language conventions alongside weaknesses in reading comprehension. While the school is improving in absolute terms, other schools across the state are improving at a faster rate, causing the relative ranking to drop.
Thank you for your feedback!