The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Science. The lowest is 39% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Oak Grove Elementary School
Oak Grove Elementary School serves second through fourth grade as part of the Paragould School District, sitting on a rural highway north of town in Greene County. It is one of the district’s elementary buildings and has a student body that is predominantly white, with a small share of Black students and smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that reflects the working-class character of the surrounding area. The school is modest in size for a primary building covering three grade levels.
The available state testing data from the 2024-25 school year, based on Arkansas’s ATLAS assessment, shows a mixed picture. In third grade, reading proficiency was higher than math, and science fell between the two. By fourth grade, reading proficiency dropped noticeably, while math stayed about the same and science ticked up. When the school is compared to other districts within Greene County on an overall proficiency index, it sits above the midpoint among the three districts in the county, though the leading district’s performance is close. These results signal that the school’s academic performance is solid within its local context, but a parent looking at proficiency rates for their child’s specific grade may want to discuss the dip in fourth grade reading with the school directly.
Paragould itself is a county seat with a working-class, industrial and agricultural base. Manufacturing, healthcare, and retail are the largest employment sectors, and the two public school districts and the local hospital are among the biggest employers. The city has been growing steadily, with new housing subdivisions expanding west and south, and industrial development such as a wind turbine manufacturing facility has brought jobs. The city’s housing values are below the state median, and rents are relatively modest. A typical mortgage payment would be somewhat less than the state average rent, and the overall cost of housing is low by national standards. For a family considering a move, that affordability is a clear draw, though it comes with a low-density, automobile-oriented layout; street life is concentrated in a small downtown core.
The district itself did not have any recent parent-relevant changes available in published records, so there is no known shift in boundaries, programming, or leadership to note. That absence may simply mean the district has been stable in recent years. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No discipline data, attendance data, or staffing ratios were provided, so a portrait of the school environment beyond testing is incomplete. A parent interested in class sizes, teacher experience, or behavior patterns would need to follow up with the school or district office directly.
Oak Grove Elementary is a small, rural-adjacent school serving early elementary grades in a community with clear economic need. The academic results place it in the middle of the local pack, with some variation by subject and grade that merits attention. For a family that values a neighborhood school with a small scale, affordability in housing, and a straightforward academic pathway through the early grades, this is a plausible fit. A family that wants to see consistent performance across all tested grades or that places a premium on strong fourth grade reading scores may want to dig deeper into how the school addresses that drop.
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