The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Math. The lowest is 39% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Ridge High School
Cedar Ridge High School serves students in grades six through twelve in Newark, a small, predominantly rural town in Independence County, Arkansas. The school is the sole secondary campus of the Cedar Ridge School District, itself formed from a consolidation of two earlier districts. The town of Newark has seen its population remain essentially flat or decline slightly over recent decades, and its economy is anchored by a large coal-fired power plant and by agriculture, mainly rice, grain, cattle, and poultry. A highway bypass completed some years ago diverted through-traffic away from what was once the town’s main commercial street, and the business community has shrunk considerably as a result. The school campus itself was built with tax revenue from the power plant, though publicly reported accounts note that the district has faced challenges supporting the complex with a declining tax base.
The student body at Cedar Ridge High School is overwhelmingly White, with small numbers of Hispanic students and even smaller shares of students who identify as Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or two or more races. Nearly all students come from households with low enough incomes to qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a rate that is well above typical patterns, meaning that the school community faces a high concentration of economic need. No data was available on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners.
State testing results from the most recent year show a mixed picture across grades and subjects. In mathematics, the portion of students scoring at the proficient level or above rose steadily from grade six through grade eight. English language arts results were more uneven, with the highest rate in grade six and a notably lower rate in grade seven, before recovering some ground in grade eight. Science results clustered in a similar range across all three tested grades. Taken together, overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades is above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Independence County. The data available covers only grades six through eight, the grades in which Arkansas administers its statewide assessments, and does not include results for high school grade levels. A parent may want to ask the school directly about academic performance in the upper grades.
No graduation rate was available for this school, and no information on discipline, attendance, chronic absenteeism, or staffing was provided in the data. Course offerings, including Advanced Placement, dual credit, or career and technical education pathways, were also absent. A parent considering Cedar Ridge High School would need to follow up with the school for that information.
By its structure, Cedar Ridge High School combines middle and high school grades on one campus, which means students spend a long stretch of their school years in a single building with a consistent group of peers. For families living in or near Newark, the school is the only public secondary option in the district, and the town’s small scale means most students likely walk or take a short ride to school each day. The housing market in the area is more affordable than the state average, and home values have seen modest growth. Rents are low relative to incomes, and for a family comparing monthly costs, owning a home is notably less expensive than renting at current mortgage rates, though a parent should weigh that against the area’s limited job growth and commercial decline.
No recent district-level changes were identified in publicly reported sources, so there is nothing to report about new programs, boundary shifts, or facility upgrades. The school appears to be operating under stable conditions, but the thinness of available data means a parent is working with an incomplete picture. For a family that values a small, rural setting, a combined middle-high school structure, and a community where the school is a central institution, Cedar Ridge High School is the local option. For a family weighing academic programming or postsecondary preparation in depth, the absence of high school test results, graduation rates, and course access data leaves too many open questions to make a confident call without speaking directly with the school.
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