The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in Science. The lowest is 10% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Clarendon Elementary School
Clarendon Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in a single building, part of the Clarendon School District in Monroe County, Arkansas. It is a traditional public elementary school, not a charter or magnet, and sits within the small, deeply rural town of Clarendon, the county seat. The school is the district’s only elementary campus; older students attend Clarendon High School for grades seven through twelve.
The academic picture here requires straightforward reading. On the state assessments Arkansas uses—the ATLAS—proficiency rates for Clarendon Elementary students are low across all tested subjects and grade levels. For example, in mathematics the share of students scoring proficient or above measured in the teens for most grades, with a slight uptick in third and sixth grade and a lower rate in fifth grade. In English language arts, the rates were similarly modest, with third grade particularly low. Science results also varied, with sixth grade showing a higher proficiency rate than the earlier grades. These figures place the school in a context that matters: relative to the two districts in Monroe County, Clarendon Elementary’s overall proficiency index landed in the top quartile. That means, within a very small and rural county with limited comparison, the school performs above the midpoint of its immediate peers. A parent should not mistake that for high statewide performance, but it suggests the school is not an outlier in its own region.
The student body reflects the community it serves. Enrollment is on the small side for a K-6 school. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals—the reported rate exceeds full enrollment, which indicates a high-poverty population where virtually every family qualifies. Racially, the school is predominantly Black, with a significant White minority, a smaller Hispanic presence, and a group of students identifying as two or more races. This demographic composition is typical of the Arkansas Delta region.
State testing data was the only academic performance metric available for this school. There is no graduation rate because the school does not serve high school grades. Information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, staffing, and special education or English learner counts was not reported in the available data.
The community of Clarendon sets the stage. It is a small town that has experienced long-term population decline, driven by the loss of industrial jobs and farm mechanization. The downtown, once a bustling river port with lumber mills, a button factory, and a movie theater, now has mostly shuttered storefronts. The economy is largely agricultural, with some tourism from hunting and fishing tied to the nearby Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. The Monroe County Courthouse, a landmark building, anchors the town center. The major infrastructure change in recent years was the demolition of the historic Clarendon Bridge over the White River and its replacement with a new highway alignment south of town. No new housing developments are reported, and the population continues to shrink.
The Clarendon School District itself did not surface any recent parent-relevant changes—no new programs, boundary adjustments, or leadership shifts were found in publicly available sources. That may reflect limited public documentation rather than stability, but no news is itself a notable gap.
What kind of school is this? It is a small, rural elementary school serving a high-poverty community in a declining Delta town. Academically, proficiency rates are low by state standards, though the school sits near the top of its very small county cohort. For a family considering this school, the peer environment is one shaped by economic disadvantage and racial diversity, and the community offers limited economic opportunity outside agriculture and public-sector jobs. A parent may want to visit the school to understand how instruction and support are delivered, especially given that test results suggest many students are below grade-level expectations, and to ask about any enrichment or intervention programs the school offers beyond what the data shows.
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