Summary:
ZIP code 74868 has two small high schools serving grades 9–12: Strother High School enrolls 108 students and Varnum High School enrolls 75, for 183 students combined. In 2025–2026, both schools were below the state’s 11th-grade proficiency rates in all four tested subjects. Their average was 16% in English Language Arts I versus 36% statewide, 1% in math versus 17%, 11% in science versus 21%, and 29% in U.S. History versus 41%—a broad gap across subjects, not a shortfall limited to one area.
Varnum led in three subjects, while Strother stood out in science. Varnum scored 20% in English Language Arts I, 8 points above Strother, and led by 2 points in both math and U.S. History. Strother’s 20% in science was 18 points above Varnum’s 2% and just 1 point below the state rate. Varnum also had stronger reported outcomes beyond test proficiency: its 2024–2025 graduation rate was 94%, compared with Strother’s 83% and the state’s 78%; chronic absenteeism in 2025–2026 was 1%, versus 9% at Strother and 16% statewide.
Across the two schools, average proficiency across the four subjects fell from 18% in 2024–2025 to 14% in 2025–2026, while the state average slipped by about 1 point; the average school–state gap widened from 14 to 16 points. English Language Arts I and math contributed to the decline, while science rose slightly and U.S. History was unchanged on average. SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking percentiles also fell: Strother went from the 33rd to the 15th percentile, and Varnum from the 11th to the 7th. As context, free/reduced lunch eligible shares were nearly alike in 2024–2025—65.7% at Strother and 65.3% at Varnum—and student–teacher ratios were 16.5 and 17.9, respectively; these figures do not establish why outcomes differ.
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