The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Math. The lowest is 30% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Baldwin Elementary School
Baldwin Elementary School in Paragould, Arkansas, serves students in second through fourth grades. As an elementary school that does not extend through the high school grades, standard measures like a graduation rate or advanced course offerings simply do not apply here. A graduation rate is not reported because the school does not serve graduating seniors.
The school is part of the Paragould School District, one of two public school districts in the city. Paragould is a county seat and the principal city of its micropolitan area, with an economy rooted in manufacturing, healthcare, and retail trade. The city has grown at a steady pace in recent decades, with new housing developments expanding west and south. Major employers include the school district itself, Arkansas Methodist Medical Center, and manufacturing firms. The city has a traditional downtown core with the historic courthouse, library, and Chamber of Commerce, while school campuses and the hospital are dispersed. Crowley's Ridge College and a Black River Technical College campus provide higher education options nearby.
State assessment data for the most recent school year shows overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades that places Baldwin Elementary School above the midpoint relative to districts in Greene County. The school has three active comparison districts within the county, and Baldwin sits between the lowest and highest performer in the group. These scores reflect the school's position among its county peers, not a statewide ranking.
Looking at individual subject performance, the results are mixed. In mathematics, the share of students scoring at proficient or above was lower than the share that scored at that level in science, in both grades three and four. English language arts proficiency rates were the weakest of the three subjects, with fewer than one in three students reaching the proficient bar in either tested grade. In science, the results were stronger, with a larger share of students meeting the proficiency criteria in both grades. A parent considering this school may want to discuss how the school supports literacy and math development, given the pattern in the assessment data.
The enrollment is small for its grade band. Every student is counted as qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school serves a population with uniform economic need. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black students, Hispanic students, and students of two or more races, and a still smaller share of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.
Housing in the area around the school is relatively affordable compared to national benchmarks, with home values below the state median and well below the national median. Rents are also below the national typical level. This aligns with Paragould's character as a working-class county seat with a lower cost of living.
No information was available on the school's discipline rates, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism. The district brief turned up little of lasting impact for changes or initiatives that parents might want to know about, so that section is left blank rather than guessed at. Baldwin Elementary is a small, high-poverty elementary school serving three consecutive grade levels in a slow-growing city, where academic performance is strongest in science compared to reading and math, and where a family would be wise to ask about literacy interventions directly.
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