Nichols Intermediate Academy, Little Rock AR

Original Research by School Decision on Nichols Intermediate Academy

Nichols Intermediate Academy, a charter school in Little Rock serving intermediate grades, is no longer operating. Its official status is closed, which means a family cannot enroll a child there today. The school was part of the ScholarMade Achievement Place of Arkansas, a small charter district in the city.

Located on South Battery Street, Nichols Intermediate Academy functioned as a charter school, though publicly reported details about its enrollment, student demographics, and free or reduced-price meal eligibility were not available. Because it served only grades four through six, it had no high school graduation rate to report.

State testing results for the 2022‑23 school year show that the share of students scoring proficient or above in math, English language arts, and science was low across all three grades. In fourth-grade math, about a quarter of students met the bar, but the rate fell sharply in fifth and sixth grades. English language arts proficiency was higher in fifth and sixth grades than in fourth, though still below half of students. Science proficiency was similarly modest, with the highest share at sixth grade. A family considering the school during its active years would have encountered an academic environment where most students were not reaching state proficiency benchmarks, with math in fifth grade being the most challenging subject.

The school sat within Little Rock, Arkansas’s capital and largest city, a place with a mix of government, healthcare, banking, and industrial employers. The city offers amenities such as the River Market district, the Clinton Presidential Center, and the Arkansas River Trail, along with a range of housing options. Home values in the area were below both the state and national medians, and rents were moderate, reflecting the broader affordability of the region compared to many other cities.

Because Nichols Intermediate Academy is closed, there is no current peer environment, academic pathway, or student support structure to evaluate. The school’s past performance suggests it served a population that faced significant academic challenges, but without ongoing operations, the only data left is historical. A parent looking for a school in this part of Little Rock would need to consider other options in the city, whether district-run, charter, or private. The closure itself is the decisive fact—there is no school here to attend.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 17% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 26% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 11% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 25 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 19% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 18% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 16% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Science

Grade 412%

School 12% · District 19% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 15% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 22% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median

This schoolSCHOLARMADE ACHIEVEMENT PLACE OF ARKANSAS, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.