The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in Math. The lowest is 23% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Glen Rose High School
Glen Rose High School serves grades nine through twelve in a rural setting just outside Malvern, Arkansas, as part of the Glen Rose School District. The school sits on a highway between Malvern and the surrounding countryside, and the district itself covers a largely residential and agricultural area beyond the city limits. Malvern, the county seat of Hot Spring County, is a manufacturing and railroad town with a handful of industrial employers including brick plants, chemical processors, and a packaging company. The downtown has a traditional small-town grid with a historic courthouse, a museum, and monthly cruise nights. Amtrak runs daily through the city, and a whitewater park on the Ouachita River draws kayakers. Housing values in the area have slipped somewhat in recent years and remain well below state and national averages, making local home costs comparatively low. The district’s research turned up no recent major curriculum changes, tax shifts, or referenda, so the picture is one of stability rather than transition.
The school enrolls around three hundred students across four grades, making it small by most high school standards. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races. More than two in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a level that signals a moderate-to-high share of families with lower incomes. No data on special education or English learner populations was available.
The academic picture is incomplete for this school. State testing results that were provided cover only seventh and eighth grade, grades that Glen Rose High School does not serve. Those results, which reflect nearby elementary or middle grades within the same district, show overall proficiency below the midpoint when compared to other schools in Hot Spring County. But because they do not apply directly to the high school’s own students, a parent may want to ask the school or district directly for high school assessment data, including performance on end-of-course exams or college readiness benchmarks. A graduation rate is also absent from the available records, making it impossible to assess how many students finish on time. No information was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course access such as Advanced Placement, dual credit, or career and technical offerings. Given the limited public data, families evaluating Glen Rose High School may need to rely on direct conversations with the school to understand academic pathways and support structures.
The peer environment is small and relatively homogeneous. With roughly seventy to ninety students per grade, students likely know most of their classmates and teachers. The rural location and single-building campus mean that extracurriculars and social life are contained within the school and the surrounding community. For a family that values a quiet, country-adjacent high school with a tight-knit feel, this setting may be a natural fit. For those who prioritize a wide range of course options, diverse student backgrounds, or readily available public performance metrics, this school’s thin data profile requires extra investigation. The housing market in the area offers affordability, and the town of Malvern provides basic civic amenities, a community college campus, and access to Interstate 30 within a short drive. But the school itself remains something of a question mark on academic outcomes, and a parent would do well to visit or call before drawing conclusions.
See more original research from School Decision →