Pocola

Pocola has three public schools serving students from prekindergarten through grade 12: Pocola Elementary (PK–5), Pocola Middle (grades 6–8), and Pocola High (grades 9–12). The clearest area-wide finding is how sharply current results differ between Middle and High: in 2025–2026, Middle led High by 15 percentage points in ELA, 28 points in math, and 58 points in science.

Pocola Middle is the strongest current performer: it had the highest ELA result (39%) and science result (69%) among the three schools and was above state results in all three shared subjects. Pocola Elementary led in math at 34%, but its science result was 18%, below the state’s 30%. Pocola High had the lowest result in each shared subject—24% in ELA, 2% in math, and 11% in science—and was below state results in all three. SchoolDigger rated Middle five stars and placed it in the 92nd statewide percentile, while High received one star and ranked in the 13th percentile.

Recent changes are mixed: Elementary improved in all three shared subjects from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, while High fell in all four reported subjects, including drops of 16 points in ELA and 22 in math; Middle gained 19 points in science. High’s 2024–2025 graduation rate was 79%, slightly above the state’s 78%. As context, 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible figures were 74% at Elementary, 71% at Middle, and 50% at High; student-teacher ratios that year were 17.2:1, 13.9:1, and 15:1, respectively. These measures do not explain the different results, and because the schools serve different grade spans, their all-grades scores are not same-grade comparisons.