Des Arc Elementary School, Des Arc AR

Original Research by School Decision on Des Arc Elementary School

Des Arc Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in the Des Arc School District, a small rural system in the Arkansas Delta. The school sits in the town of Des Arc, one of two county seats for Prairie County, where the historic downtown retains the county courthouse and a handful of civic anchors such as the Lower White River Museum State Park. The community has seen a long-term population decline since the 1980s, and the local economy centers on a White River Energetics ammunition factory and agricultural work like rice farming. The school is a conventional public elementary, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is small for its grade band. Most students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area's economic realities, and the student body is predominantly white with smaller numbers of Black and Hispanic students. Data on students receiving special education services and English learner support was not available, a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly, because those populations' needs shape how resources are allocated day to day.

Academic performance on Arkansas's ATLAS assessments shows a mixed picture across grades and subjects. In the most recent testing year, results varied considerably by grade level. For math, the share of students reaching the proficient-or-above threshold was higher in the upper elementary grades and lower in fourth grade. Reading and English language arts results also bounced around, with one grade posting a solid majority proficient while a different grade fell well below that mark. Science followed a similar pattern, with some grades performing more strongly than others. No single grade or subject dominated; the school's profile is one of uneven outcomes. When compared with the other district in Prairie County, this school's overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint, a position that suggests its academic results are relatively stronger within its immediate county context. That said, a parent looking at the grade-level detail would want to understand why certain years show softer results and whether the school has plans to address those pockets.

The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not available. No information was provided about course offerings, discipline rates, or staffing ratios, which limits a full picture of the school environment. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent changes or strategic initiatives, so it is hard to say whether any improvement efforts are underway. The town itself is compact and quiet, with a gridded street plan that has never been fully built out, and street life is minimal outside the courthouse area. Housing is likely affordable given the area's economic trends, but the data does not provide specific rent or home values.

For a family considering Des Arc Elementary, the key considerations are the school's role as the sole elementary in a small district, the variability in grade-level test results, and the limited public information about special programs or support services. The school's performance relative to its single neighbor district is a positive, but the mixed internal numbers mean a parent should dig into how the school supports students who are not yet at the proficient marker, particularly in the grades and subjects where proficiency rates are lower. The absence of data on special education and English learner enrollment is a notable gap worth exploring with the school directly. This is a community school in a slowly shrinking Delta town, with the strengths and limitations that come with that setting.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 37 pts above state median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 24 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Science

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 20 pts above state median

This schoolDES ARC 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-income29%Higher-income73%44 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income40%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income60%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income73%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income80%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income50%31 pp gap