The top reported proficiency rate is 13% in English language arts. The lowest is 8% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Jacksonville Middle School
Jacksonville Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade students in the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District, a district formed when the city voted to split from the Pulaski County Special School District, a move publicly reported as approved by a strong majority of voters. The school is situated in a city where Little Rock Air Force Base is a defining presence, and the town functions as a working-class to middle-class suburb roughly a dozen miles northeast of Little Rock. The community has seen a period of population stabilization rather than rapid growth, and publicly reported information notes that the closure of the local hospital’s emergency room was a significant economic setback.
The school’s student body is large for a middle school serving grades six through eight. The composition is diverse, with the largest group of students identifying as Black, followed by a substantial share identifying as White, and smaller shares identifying as Hispanic, as two or more races, as Asian, and as American Indian or Alaska Native. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a detail that reflects the economic profile of the community the school serves.
On state assessments administered under Arkansas’s ATLAS system, Jacksonville Middle School records proficiency rates that are low across tested subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, the share of students scoring at the proficient or above level is in the single digits for sixth and eighth grades, with a slightly higher but still modest share in seventh grade. In English language arts, the share of students reaching proficiency is also low across all three grades, generally in the low double digits. Science results are similarly low, with proficiency rates ranging from under ten percent in sixth grade to the low teens in seventh and eighth grades. When compared to other school districts within Pulaski County, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. A parent looking at these results will see a school where the large majority of students are not yet meeting state benchmarks in core subjects. That pattern warrants a closer conversation with the school about what academic supports are in place and how the school is working to move these numbers.
Because this is a middle school without a graduating class, no graduation rate applies. Data for chronic absenteeism and for students with individualized education programs or English learner status were not available in the data provided, so those dimensions of student experience are not part of this account. Information on course offerings, such as advanced or elective pathways, was also absent, leaving a gap in understanding what academic variety the school offers beyond the tested core.
A publicly reported change in the district is that after the 2023-2024 school year, two elementary schools were closed and consolidated into a single elementary school. That shift reshapes the feeder pattern that sends students to Jacksonville Middle School, and families new to the area may want to confirm which elementary attendance zone their address falls into and how that affects the middle school path.
The housing market in the area shows home values and rents that are below the average for the state of Arkansas, making it a relatively affordable part of Pulaski County. The typical mortgage payment for a median-priced home is below the typical rent, a dynamic some families weigh when deciding between renting and buying.
For a parent or resident trying to understand this school, the central takeaway is an academic environment where state test results are very low across all core subjects and all grade levels tested. The school serves a student body where economic need is universal, and it operates in a community shaped by the military base and by a recent period of district reorganization and economic adjustment. A parent who values a diverse, large middle school in an affordable, suburban setting near Little Rock may find it a fit, but the proficiency data is a plain indicator that the school is still working to move the needle on academic achievement. A family considering this school would benefit from visiting, asking about specific academic intervention programs, and understanding how the school supports students who are below grade level.
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