The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Northwest Elementary School
Northwest Elementary serves students in kindergarten through fourth grade in El Dorado, Arkansas, as part of the El Dorado School District. The school sits in a small city that functions as the county seat of Union County and the economic center of south-central Arkansas, where the local economy has long been anchored by oil production, refining, petrochemicals, and timber. El Dorado’s population has been declining for decades, and major recent investment has gone into downtown revitalization projects such as the Murphy Arts District and the El Dorado Conference Center rather than into suburban expansion.
The student body is diverse. A little over half of the students are Black, with White students making up roughly three in ten. Hispanic students account for a little over one in ten, and a small number of students are Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or of two or more races. Every student at Northwest qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that reflects the school’s status as serving a population that is economically disadvantaged. Parents should be aware that data on the share of students with disabilities and the share of English learners was not available in the materials reviewed; families who need these numbers may want to ask the school directly.
State testing results from the 2024-25 school year, using Arkansas’s ATLAS assessments, show student achievement that is below the midpoint among districts in Union County across tested subjects and grades. In third-grade English language arts, roughly two in five students scored at the proficient level or above. In fourth-grade ELA, the share was a little lower. In math, about one in five third-graders and a bit under three in ten fourth-graders reached proficiency. Science results were the lowest of the three subjects tested, with about one in four third-graders and roughly one in five fourth-graders scoring proficient or above. These figures give a parent a picture of a school where most students are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks, and a parent may want to follow up with the school about academic supports and intervention programs.
Because Northwest Elementary serves only kindergarten through fourth grade, it does not produce a high school graduation rate, and no chronic absenteeism data was available in the reviewed materials. The school is not a charter school, and no magnet or Title I status was reported in the data available. Information on programs such as art, music, or after-school activities was also not provided in the materials reviewed.
El Dorado offers some distinctive features for its residents. The Murphy Arts District provides concentrated street life during events, and the city has several parks, the South Arkansas Arboretum, the South Arkansas Arts Center, and the El Dorado Conference Center. South Arkansas College, a two-year community college, is integrated into the downtown area. Housing values in the zip code that covers the school are well below national benchmarks, and the median household income in the area is below the national median, consistent with the high share of students qualifying for meal assistance.
For a parent considering Northwest Elementary, the central facts are these. The school serves a diverse, economically disadvantaged student body in a small city with a declining population but active downtown revitalization. Academic proficiency rates are lower than those of many other schools in Union County, and a parent will want to understand what kind of academic support and intervention the school provides. The school is a standard public elementary within a district that, publicly reported, has not recently undergone major changes that would affect a parent’s experience. The school does not serve middle or high school grades, so families will eventually be looking at other schools in the district for those years.
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