Summary:
Zip code 72956, serving the Van Buren, Arkansas area, is home to a single high school, Van Buren High School, which serves grades 10 through 12 with a total enrollment of 1,232 students. As the only high school in the area, it is part of the Van Buren School District, which holds a 3-star rating and ranks 123rd out of 251 districts in Arkansas. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 10.7:1 and spends $12,386 per student, with 57.87% of students receiving free or reduced lunch.
Van Buren High School shows notable strengths and weaknesses in its academic performance. The school consistently outperforms both its district and the state average in English Language Arts (44.6% proficient vs. 39.4% state) and Reading (43.7% vs. 40.4% state). However, it struggles significantly in Geometry, where only 14.4% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 26.4% and the district average of 30.7%. This "Geometry paradox" suggests a systemic issue at the high school level, as the district's overall performance is much stronger. Biology proficiency (38.2%) also lags slightly behind the state average (42.7%). The school's state ranking has been volatile, moving from the 67th percentile to the 77th and back to the 69th percentile over three years.
Despite these challenges, there are positive trends. Year-over-year scores improved from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 in ELA (42.8% to 44.6%), Reading (41.8% to 43.7%), and Geometry (8.5% to 14.4%), indicating that interventions may be taking effect. The school maintains a strong graduation rate of 89.5% and a low dropout rate of 0.4%, though the graduation rate is below the district's reported 94.3%. With reasonable resources and a low student-teacher ratio, the key takeaway for parents is that Van Buren High School excels in English and Reading but needs targeted improvement in math and science, particularly Geometry, to better prepare students for college and careers.
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