The top reported proficiency rate is 21% in Science. The lowest is 7% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Pine Bluff Lighthouse Middle School Academy
Pine Bluff Lighthouse Middle School Academy is a closed charter school. It was part of the Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools network and served middle school grades in Pine Bluff. The most recent available state assessment data, from the 2022-23 school year, shows proficiency rates that are very low across tested subjects. In math, roughly six percent of seventh graders and eight percent of eighth graders scored proficient or above. In English language arts, roughly fifteen percent of seventh graders and twenty percent of eighth graders met that bar. In science, roughly eighteen percent of seventh graders and twenty-four percent of eighth graders did. These are the school’s last recorded academic results before it ceased operations. A parent should note that there is no enrollment count, no demographic breakdown, no information on special populations, and no graduation rate available for this school, which is consistent with it having closed shortly after that testing year.
The school’s location was on West Second Avenue in Pine Bluff, a mid-sized Arkansas city that serves as the county seat of Jefferson County and the commercial hub of a two-county micropolitan area. Pine Bluff blends residential neighborhoods with a historic downtown, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and a Harbor Industrial District along the Arkansas River. The surrounding region is flat Delta farmland, and paper mills in the area give the city a noticeable odor. The city is on a declining population trajectory. Major employers include Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Simmons First National Corp., Tyson Foods, and the Union Pacific Railroad. The Saracen Casino Resort, completed in 2020, is a notable recent development that employs a substantial workforce. Civic anchors include the Pine Bluff Convention Center, the Arts and Science Center, and several museums. The local housing market reflects the area’s economic conditions; the value of a typical home in the zip code is modest and has declined year over year.
The parent district, Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools, no longer operates schools in Pine Bluff. Publicly available accreditation reports from the state education department show that two Pine Bluff schools that were part of the district—Pine Bluff Lighthouse Elementary Academy and Pine Bluff Lighthouse Middle School Academy—were listed in the 2021-22 report but are absent from the 2023-24 and 2024-25 reports. The district now operates three schools, all in Jacksonville. The middle school academy itself is no longer active. For families in Pine Bluff, this means that the Lighthouse charter option within this specific district is no longer available there. The school appears to have closed after the 2022-23 school year, and no later academic data or enrollment records are available because it is no longer operating. What is known about its performance comes from that single testing year, which showed proficiency rates that were sharply below typical state averages. A parent trying to understand this school today would find that it is not an active enrollment option, and the data that exists describes a school that served a middle school population with very low test scores before it shut down.
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