Bryant Elementary School, Bryant AR

Original Research by School Decision on Bryant Elementary School

Bryant Elementary is a public school in the rapidly growing Little Rock suburb of Bryant, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Bryant School District, which covers the city and its surrounding areas. The school sits in the older part of town, where development has been slower, while much of the city’s new retail and commercial growth has clustered along the Interstate 30 corridor, giving Bryant a split character between a quiet historic core and a bustling highway strip.

Academically, Bryant Elementary posts results that place it near the top among schools in Saline County. On the state’s ATLAS assessments, which measure math, reading, and science, the school’s overall proficiency rate across all tested grades and subjects sits in the top quartile relative to other districts in the county. But the story is not uniform across grade levels. In third and fourth grades, a solid majority of students meet proficiency in math, reading, and science. By fifth grade, however, the share of students reaching that bar drops noticeably in every subject. The decline is most pronounced in reading and science, where fewer than half of fifth graders score proficient. Parents considering the school may want to talk with the administration about what supports are in place for upper elementary students and how the school addresses this pattern.

The student body draws from a wide range of backgrounds. Around half of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting a moderate-income population. A majority of the students are White, with significant shares who are Black and Hispanic, as well as smaller groups of Asian students and students identifying as two or more races. The school is a regular public school, not a charter, and the district reports no magnet or Title I status in the available data.

Bryant itself is a family-oriented suburb that has grown rapidly in recent decades, transforming from a small railroad town into a major bedroom community for Little Rock. The city’s comprehensive plan, called Bryant Leap Forward, guides decisions on neighborhoods, transportation, parks, and infrastructure, signaling that growth is expected to continue. The Bryant School District responded to that growth by passing a property tax increase in 2023 to fund a new high school, which is set to open for the 2026-2027 school year. That new school will eventually relieve crowding at the existing high school, and families currently sending children to Bryant Elementary can expect that facility change to affect the feeder pattern a few years down the road.

Housing in the area is priced around the middle of the national market, with both owned homes and rentals reflecting a typical cost of living for a growing Sun Belt suburb. The city is car-dependent, with most errands requiring a vehicle, and walkable street life is limited to the old downtown core. Civic anchors include a library branch, a regional airport, and expanding parks and recreation.

For a family looking at Bryant Elementary, the picture is one of a solidly performing public school in a fast-growing suburban setting. Early elementary results give reason for confidence, but the fifth-grade step back across all subjects is worth a closer conversation with the school. The overall academic standing among county peers is strong, and the district’s investment in new high school capacity signals that the community expects to keep growing. Parents should weigh the school’s clear strengths against the need to understand how it supports students as they approach the transition to middle school.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 54% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 60% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 50% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 46% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 50% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 44% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 47% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 42% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 36% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolBRYANT SCHOOL DISTRICT, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income64%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income58%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income14%Higher-income69%55 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income75%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income59%Higher-income81%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income69%47 pp gap