The top reported proficiency rate is 8% in Math. The lowest is 5% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Blevins High School
Blevins High School serves grades seven through twelve in a remote rural corner of Hempstead County. The town of Blevins itself is very small, a traditional crossroads community where US Highway 371 meets Arkansas Highway 29, with a bank, a hardware store, a convenience store, a grocery-and-grill, and a few other local businesses. The surrounding landscape is agricultural, with a shift underway from row crops toward beef cattle and poultry processing; one poultry plant operates near town. The Blevins School District is one of only four remaining in the county after decades of consolidation, making it a central civic institution in a place that has seen a slow population decline over recent decades.
The high school’s enrollment is small. A substantial share of its students come from low-income households, as measured by free and reduced-price meal eligibility. The student body is majority white, with Black and Hispanic students each making up a meaningful share of the population.
State test results from the most recent year show very low proficiency rates across the board. In seventh-grade math and English language arts, no tested student reached the proficient level. In seventh-grade science, the same was true. Eighth-grade results were somewhat higher but still low: roughly one in seven students scored proficient in math, one in ten in English language arts, and about one in six in science. When compared with other districts in Hempstead County, Blevins sits in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. A parent considering this school should look into these outcomes further with the school and district.
The school does not report a four-year graduation rate in the data we reviewed, and chronic absenteeism figures were also absent. Information on special education and English learner populations was not available. These gaps make it harder to assess how well the school supports all its students through to graduation.
The school operates as part of the Blevins School District, which has adopted a four-day school week. That schedule choice has direct consequences for family routines, childcare arrangements, and the total amount of instructional time students receive. It is a structural feature any family moving to the area will want to factor into their planning.
The community context is one of limited economic opportunity. The school district itself is a major local employer. Housing costs are modest relative to national averages. The town’s population has been trending downward, and no major new development or growth initiative was evident from publicly reported sources. The nearby city of Hope, roughly a fifteen-mile drive south, serves as the county seat and likely provides broader amenities such as shopping, health care, and civic services that are not available within Blevins itself.
For a family considering Blevins High School, the picture is straightforward. This is a very small rural school serving a high-poverty population in a town that is slowly shrinking. Academic proficiency on state assessments is low compared with other districts in the same county. The four-day week is a concrete factor that reshapes the weekly rhythm of school and home life. Families who value a tight-knit, community-anchored school in a quiet rural setting may find the scale appealing, but the academic results and limited data on student outcomes are real concerns that warrant direct conversation with the school administration.
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