Caddo Hills Elementary School, Norman AR

Original Research by School Decision on Caddo Hills Elementary School

Caddo Hills Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in the rural community of Norman, Arkansas. It is the elementary campus of the Caddo Hills School District, which was formed through a consolidation of the Norman and Caddo Gap districts. The school sits east of Norman on Highway 8, surrounded by the Ouachita National Forest. Its enrollment is modest for the kindergarten-through-sixth-grade band, and the student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up a modest share.

The economic context of the school is one of widespread need. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic base of the area. Norman’s economy relies on agriculture, poultry, and logging, and the town has experienced long-term population decline. There is no single large employer. The school’s demographics mirror this pattern: the community is stable but not growing, and the housing stock is limited.

Academically, Caddo Hills Elementary tests in math, English language arts, and science under Arkansas’s ATLAS assessment. The results show a range across grades. In third grade, the share of students scoring proficient or above was solid across all three subjects, with science reaching a notably high level. Fourth-grade results were moderate, with math and ELA in a similar range and science lower but still above half of students meeting the bar. The fifth grade presents a clear soft spot: proficiency rates in math, ELA, and science all dropped sharply compared to the grades just below, falling well below a third of students meeting the standard in math and ELA. By sixth grade, performance recovered somewhat but not to the levels seen in third or fourth grade. Parents may want to ask the school how it supports students through the transition to upper elementary, especially in fifth grade.

Compared to the other school districts in Montgomery County, Caddo Hills Elementary’s overall proficiency index places it in the top half among the two districts in the county. This is a narrow comparison, and it does not reflect how the school stacks up against schools statewide, but within its immediate regional peers it holds a stronger position.

Data on chronic absenteeism and discipline was not available, and the school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. The district’s strategic or programmatic changes were not found in available sources. The school itself operates as a traditional public elementary school with no charter or magnet status.

For families considering this school, the central takeaway is a small, rural elementary that serves a community with high economic need. The academic picture is uneven: early grades show solid proficiency, fifth grade is a noticeable dip, and the school overall performs well within its small county but faces the typical challenges of a high-poverty setting. The setting is quiet and remote, with limited town amenities, and the school is the main educational hub for families in the Norman and Caddo Gap areas.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 4 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Science

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 30 pts above state median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

even with state median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 4 pts above state median

This schoolCADDO HILLS 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.