Raymond F. Orr Elem. School, Fort Smith AR

Original Research by School Decision on Raymond F. Orr Elem. School

Raymond F. Orr Elementary School is a K through 5 building within the Fort Smith School District, located in a residential area of the city. The school is situated in a section of Fort Smith that reflects the city’s status as a regional hub for employment, healthcare, and manufacturing for western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The city itself is a mix of neighborhoods and commercial corridors, spread out and car-dependent, with the school’s location on Phoenix Street placing it in a setting of single-family homes. Families living near Orr are part of a district that serves all of Fort Smith, and the school acts as the neighborhood elementary school for those within its attendance boundary.

The student body at Orr is diverse, drawing from the city’s broad economic base. A substantial portion of the families in the area qualify for federal meal assistance, a marker of the economic range present in the attendance zone. Racially and ethnically, the school’s enrollment includes a majority of white students, along with meaningful populations of students who identify as two or more races, Hispanic, Black, and Asian, with a small number of American Indian students. This composition gives the school a student mix that is more varied than a simple majority-minority or overwhelmingly homogeneous setting, and families considering Orr should expect a peer environment that reflects Fort Smith’s demographic character.

Academically, Orr’s state assessment results show a pattern where fourth-grade performance is a clear strength. For both math and English language arts, fourth-grade students scored at a level that would be considered a clear bright spot for the school and a signal of effective instruction at that grade level. Science results follow the same pattern, with fourth graders outperforming their third- and fifth-grade peers. In contrast, third-grade results in both math and English language arts were lower, and fifth-grade results in math were also notably low. These grade-level differences are a central feature of the school’s academic profile. A parent selecting Orr should understand that while fourth grade is a strong year, the school’s proficiency picture is inconsistent across grades and subjects, and they may want to ask the school about how it supports continuity of learning, particularly in the transition from third to fourth grade and in upper elementary math.

The Fort Smith district has made recent, permanent investments that touch Orr indirectly. Voters approved a property tax increase in 2021 that provides ongoing annual funding for teacher salaries, technology, and facility upgrades. The district subsequently lowered the millage rate the following year, adjusting the tax burden while keeping operations funded. In 2022, the district opened the Peak Innovation Center, a career and technical education facility for district students. While this center serves older students, its presence signals that the district is investing in long-term programming, and Orr students would eventually feed into middle and high schools that can access this resource. For an elementary school family, the most immediately relevant district-level change is the ongoing investment in teacher salaries and classroom technology made possible by the 2021 tax vote.

For a family living in Fort Smith and considering Orr, the school offers a mixed academic picture anchored by a strong fourth-grade showing but tempered by lower results in the early primary and upper elementary grades. The school’s student body is economically diverse, and the neighborhood setting is typical of a mid-sized, car-oriented city. The absence of data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing means that a parent’s next step should be to visit the school, talk to the principal about how the building addresses the grade-level performance gap, and ask about student support, attendance, and school culture directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 33% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 38% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 34% · ▼ 1 pts below district

even with state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 31% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 37% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 36% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 31% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 33% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 30% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county 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 3Lower-income49%Higher-income50%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income40%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income50%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income58%28 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income20%Higher-income20%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income43%Higher-income57%14 pp gap