Summary:
The four schools in Colbert serve prekindergarten through grade 12 and enroll 837 students altogether. Their clearest shared concern is English language arts: the schools’ 2025–2026 average was 21% proficient, compared with 26% statewide, and every school’s result fell from the previous year. The most important area-wide finding is that ELA weakened across all four schools while the state result stayed at 26%.
Colbert High School stands out in ELA, with 34% proficient—8 percentage points above the state—and in U.S. History, with 56% versus 41% statewide. Ward Elementary School East leads the three schools reporting science: 45%, 15 points above the state’s 30%. Colbert Middle School has the lowest all-grades ELA and math results, at 11% and 16%—15 and 9 points below state results—but its science score is a strength at 42%, 12 points above the state. Ward Elementary School West has the highest all-grades math result, 24%, just 1 point below the state’s 25%.
ELA fell by an average of 9 percentage points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026; the high school dropped 13 points, while the middle school fell 3. Science also declined overall, but results varied: East fell 9 points, while Middle rose 4. Math changed little, with the four-school average down 1 point; the high school improved 3 points, while Middle declined 3. Attendance is a positive area: 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism was below the state’s 16% at every school, ranging from 4% at the high school to 12% at East. The schools report free/reduced lunch eligible shares for 2024–2025 ranging from 69% to 84%; their student-teacher ratios range from 12.8 to 16.4. These figures provide context, not an explanation of school results, and all-grades comparisons span different grade levels.
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