The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Math. The lowest is 33% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Garfield Scholars Academy
Garfield Scholars Academy is a public charter school district in Benton County, Arkansas, that opened its doors in 2024. It serves elementary grades, and the available state testing data covers grades three through five, consistent with a K-5 grade span. As a brand-new, tuition-free, open-enrollment charter, it represents a fresh public school option for families in the area. The district’s enrollment in its first year was modest, and it operated with significant unused capacity relative to its stated cap.
The academic picture comes from the first year of state testing under Arkansas’s ATLAS assessment. In grade three, the share of students meeting proficiency in math and English language arts was at a level that would give a family pause, and in science it was similarly modest. Grade four showed a notably higher proficiency rate in both math and ELA, and science also improved. Results for grade five were suppressed, likely because the tested student group was too small to report publicly. The overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades placed the district in the bottom quartile among Benton County’s districts. This is a clear soft spot, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the academic program and support for students.
The district brief, drawn from publicly reported sources, confirms that the school received an F letter grade from the state in its first year, with growth and achievement scores significantly below the averages of the local Rogers School District and the state overall. The school’s English and math growth scores were both in the “Not Meeting Standard” range. This is a substantial early signal for any family considering enrollment, and it is worth noting that first-year results for a new school can be volatile, but the data is what it is.
There are many gaps in the available data. Enrollment totals, racial and ethnic demographics, the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, the number of students with disabilities or English learners, and chronic absenteeism rates are all missing. There is no information on the school’s staffing, discipline, course access, or attendance. The locale brief for Garfield, Arkansas, is also absent from the record, so the community context—whether it is a small town, a rural area, or a suburb of a larger city—is not described here. The school’s website and any list of programs or offerings were not provided.
The district’s presence in Benton County, one of Arkansas’s fastest-growing regions, means it sits in a county with a number of other districts to compare against. The comparison set is among Benton County’s districts, and within that group Garfield Scholars Academy’s first-year proficiency was the lowest reported. That is a fact a family should weigh carefully.
For a parent or resident, this is a place with a clear academic challenge in its early years, a small student body, and a charter status that gives it a distinct governance structure. The school has room to grow its enrollment and may evolve quickly. The strengths are not yet visible in the academic data, and the missing demographic and program information makes it hard to assess the peer environment or student support context. Anyone considering this school would likely want to visit, ask about the academic plan, and see how the school intends to improve from its first-year results.
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