Dora Kimmons Middle School, Fort Smith AR

Original Research by School Decision on Dora Kimmons Middle School

Dora Kimmons Middle School serves students in grades six through eight in Fort Smith, Arkansas, as part of the Fort Smith School District. It is a traditional public school that is not a charter or magnet. The student body is large for a middle school, and the composition reflects the diversity of its north-side Fort Smith neighborhood. Hispanic students make up the majority, with smaller shares of Black, White, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-poverty school environment.

On the state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Dora Kimmons Middle School’s proficiency rates were low across all tested subjects and grade levels. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was modest across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. English language arts results followed a similar pattern, with a small proportion of students meeting the proficiency bar. Science results were broadly comparable: a minority of students reached the proficient level in each grade. When compared against other schools in Sebastian County, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile. A parent considering this school may want to discuss with the school how it supports students who are below grade level and what academic interventions are in place.

The school sits within a district that has made notable investments. In 2022, Fort Smith Public Schools opened the Peak Innovation Center, a career and technical education facility offering programs in advanced manufacturing, health sciences, and information technology. That facility is available to middle school students from the district and partner districts at no cost, though the data for Dora Kimmons specifically did not indicate how many students participate. The district also saw a property tax increase approved by voters in 2021, followed by a millage rollback in 2023, which together shifted the local tax burden while maintaining operations. These district-level moves reflect an ongoing effort to expand pathways for students, even as the middle school’s current academic results point to challenges.

Fort Smith itself is a regional hub for western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, with a mix of residential neighborhoods, manufacturing plants operated by companies like Rheem, Trane, and Mars Petcare, and a large healthcare and education sector. The city is car-dependent and spread out, with downtown anchored by the Fort Smith National Historic Site and the Arkansas River. Housing in the area around the school is below the state average in value, and rents are moderate relative to incomes, making the neighborhood more affordable than many parts of the region. The school’s location on North 50th Street places it in a residential part of the city, away from the downtown core.

For a family weighing this school, the picture has two distinct sides. On one hand, the district has committed to expanding career-tech options, and the school serves a diverse student body in a community with stable manufacturing and healthcare employment. On the other hand, the academic proficiency data shows that a large majority of students are not yet meeting state benchmarks in math, reading, or science. A parent may want to ask about specific programs for struggling learners, how the school uses the Peak Innovation Center for middle schoolers, and what the school’s approach is to improving core instruction. The data on chronic absenteeism and special education services was not available, so those are gaps to explore directly with the school. Dora Kimmons is a school that serves a high-needs population in a district that is investing in new facilities, but its current academic outcomes suggest that families considering it should look closely at how their child’s needs would be met day to day.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 36% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 37% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 32% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 33% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 30% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 34% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Science

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 31% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 34% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 38% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

This schoolFORT SMITH 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 6Lower-income18%Higher-income24%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income36%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income22%Higher-income44%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income12%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income40%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income17%Higher-income31%13 pp gap