Oaklawn Stem Magnet School, Hot Springs AR

Original Research by School Decision on Oaklawn Stem Magnet School

Oaklawn STEM Magnet School sits within the Hot Springs School District and serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Its magnet designation signals a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math, and the school’s name reflects that emphasis. The building is located on Oaklawn Boulevard, in a city known as a resort destination and the county seat of Garland County, where thermal bathhouses, Oaklawn Park horse racing, and Hot Springs National Park draw visitors year‑round. The downtown area is preserved as the Central Avenue Historic District with bathhouse row and Art Deco architecture, and the national park offers miles of hiking trails. Major employers include the tourism and hospitality industry, the National Park Service, and Oaklawn Park itself. The broader metropolitan area has seen slow but steady population growth in recent years.

Enrollment at Oaklawn STEM Magnet School is moderate for a pre‑K–6 campus. The student body is majority white, with a substantial Black population and smaller shares of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced‑price lunch, a sign of widespread economic need across the school community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the state reporting.

State assessment results are the most recent available, from the 2024–25 school year, and they cover grades three through six in math, English language arts, and science. Across those tested grades and subjects, the share of students scoring proficient or above is low. In math, for example, the highest proficiency rate among the four tested grades is around one‑third of students, and several grades fall well below that. English language arts results follow a similar pattern, with no grade reaching a third of students proficient. Science results show the same trend: the highest rate appears in grade six, at roughly one in three students meeting the bar, while the other grades trail behind. Compared with other school districts in Garland County, Oaklawn STEM Magnet School’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. A parent considering the school should be aware that these are areas where the school is working from a low starting point, and it may be worth asking what specific supports are in place for students who are not yet at grade level.

Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school environment and access sections contained no data on discipline, chronic absenteeism, staffing levels, or course access, so those dimensions cannot be described here. The district brief turned up no recent publicized changes of lasting impact to the Hot Springs School District.

Housing in the area around the school shows home values that are slightly above the state median and rents that have risen notably year over year. The national 30‑year mortgage rate sits in the mid‑six percent range, and the unemployment rate nationwide is just above four percent. These figures provide a general economic backdrop; within Hot Springs itself, the tourism‑driven economy and the presence of the national park continue to shape local life. For families weighing options, Oaklawn STEM Magnet School offers a STEM‑centered program in a pre‑K–6 setting, set in a city with a distinct resort character, and serves a student population where economic disadvantage is universal and test scores are below county averages.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 23% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 435%

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

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 20% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 30% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 25% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 28% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 23% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 26% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 27% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 27% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 20% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 26% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolHOT SPRINGS 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.