The top reported proficiency rate is 15% in English language arts. The lowest is 3% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Beryl Henry Upper Elem. School
Beryl Henry Upper Elementary School serves fifth and sixth graders in the Hope School District, a small district in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Hope itself is a small city that has experienced population decline over recent decades. Its economy rests on manufacturing, poultry processing, and agriculture, with Klipsch Audio Technologies as a well-known local employer. Union Pacific tracks divide the town, and the historic downtown anchors around a restored railroad depot that also functions as an Amtrak stop and visitor center. The school's campus sits on South Main Street, separate from the downtown core, and the district also operates a primary school, a middle school, and a high school on other sites across town.
Beryl Henry is an upper elementary school with a modest enrollment for its two-grade span. The student body is majority Black, with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller share of white students. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic context of the community. The school is not a charter or magnet school.
On the state's ATLAS assessments, proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades fell well below the midpoint among districts in Hempstead County, landing in the bottom quartile on an overall proficiency index. In fifth-grade math, a very small share of students scored proficient or above. Sixth-grade math results were similarly low. English language arts proficiency was somewhat higher but still confined to a modest share of students in both grades. Science proficiency for fifth graders outpaced reading and math but remained within a low range, while sixth-grade science proficiency dropped sharply. State testing data for this school covers only its two grade levels, and no graduation rate is reported because the school does not serve high school grades.
Housing in the area is well below national and state benchmarks in value. The typical home price in Hope is a fraction of the national figure, and the estimated monthly mortgage on that typical home is low relative to much of the country. This means the cost of entry for families looking to live in the district is low, but the local housing market has seen modest year-over-year appreciation.
No recent district-level changes of lasting impact were identified in publicly available sources for the Hope School District. The district's strategic priorities, program offerings, and staffing data were not available in the information provided.
For a family considering Beryl Henry Upper Elementary, the picture is straightforward. The school serves a community where economic resources are thin, and the academic results on state assessments are weak across the board. A parent would want to look into what academic supports, intervention programs, and enrichment offerings the school provides, and how the district is working to raise performance. The low housing costs in Hope mean that living in the district is affordable compared to many other places, but the trajectory of the town is one of contraction rather than growth. The school itself is a standard public elementary serving two grades, with no special programs or alternative structures noted in the available data.
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