Bragg Elementary School, West Memphis AR

Original Research by School Decision on Bragg Elementary School

Bragg Elementary School, a public school in West Memphis, Arkansas, serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade. It is part of the West Memphis School District. The school’s student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of white students and small percentages of Hispanic, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high concentration of economic need.

The school sits in a mid-sized city that functions as a logistics and distribution hub, positioned at the intersection of major interstate highways and the Mississippi River across from Memphis, Tennessee. The local economy is anchored by trucking, healthcare, and gaming. The city has experienced a population decline in recent years, though publicly reported investments in public facilities and job creation have occurred. Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, and the city’s layout is oriented heavily toward automobile and truck traffic.

Academic performance, as measured by Arkansas’s state assessments (ATLAS), shows that the share of students scoring proficient or above is low in every grade and subject tested. In third through sixth grade, proficiency rates in math, reading, and science are all well under the majority level, with a few grades falling near the single digits. The composite proficiency index places Bragg above the midpoint among the districts in Crittenden County that submitted data, a relative bright spot. Parents considering Bragg should look into what academic supports are in place, how the school addresses foundational skill gaps, and whether recent district or school initiatives are targeting these outcomes.

The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing were not available in the materials reviewed. The district brief did not turn up any major parent-relevant changes in recent years, so it is not possible to describe recent shifts from that angle.

For a family weighing this school, the core picture is a high-poverty elementary school in a transportation-oriented city where state test results are low but show a slight comparative strength within a small county cohort. A family may want to learn directly from the school about its approach to instruction, intervention, and enrichment, as well as any after-school or community partnerships that support student learning.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 17% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 17% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 18% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 28% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 16% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 416%

School 16% · District 17% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 18% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 18% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 13% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 20% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 15% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 11% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolWEST MEMPHIS 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.