Jackson/wonder Elementary School, West Memphis AR

Original Research by School Decision on Jackson/wonder Elementary School

Jackson/Wonder Elementary School serves students in prekindergarten through sixth grade and is part of the West Memphis School District in eastern Arkansas. The school enrolls a large student body for an elementary campus, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across each grade from kindergarten through sixth grade. The student population is almost entirely Black, with a very small number of White students and even fewer identifying as Hispanic or two or more races. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are served.

The school’s academic performance on the Arkansas ATLAS assessments shows that proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science are low across all tested grades. In math, proficiency rates were in the single digits for third, fourth, and fifth graders, while sixth graders posted a higher but still modest rate. English language arts proficiency also fell in the single digits for third, fifth, and sixth graders, with fourth graders slightly above that range. Science results were similarly low, with every grade reporting proficiency at or below single-digit figures. When compared to other schools in Crittenden County, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among those with reported results. That measure is the average of proficiency rates across all tested subjects and grades, so a parent should read these numbers as indicating that the majority of students are not meeting state proficiency benchmarks. A parent may want to look into the school’s specific instructional supports and interventions to understand how the school is addressing these results.

The school is part of the West Memphis School District, and the district brief did not surface any recent major changes or strategic initiatives that would be of immediate relevance to a parent. No information was available on the school’s discipline rates, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism, so those are open questions a family would need to explore on a visit. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate data applies here.

The community context for Jackson/Wonder Elementary is the city of West Memphis, a mid-sized city directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee. The local economy is heavily oriented around transportation and logistics, with major employers including FedEx, Schneider National, and the Port of West Memphis, along with a sizable hospital and a casino. The city’s population has been declining in recent years, though city officials have reported substantial public and private investment, including new parks, public safety facilities, and a library innovation center. Housing values in the area are well below the national median and noticeably below the state median, with recent modest appreciation. The city’s built environment is highway-oriented, with wide roads and interstate infrastructure dominating the landscape, and there was little to suggest a walkable or pedestrian-friendly neighborhood around the school. For a family considering this school, the housing market may be a draw in terms of affordability, but the academic performance context and the logistical, industrial character of the surrounding city are important factors to weigh. A parent would likely want to speak directly with the school’s principal and teachers to understand the day-to-day classroom experience and any initiatives aimed at lifting proficiency rates.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 17% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 17% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 18% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 28% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 16% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 17% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 18% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 67%

School 7% · District 18% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 37%

School 7% · District 13% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 20% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 15% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 64%

School 4% · District 11% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below 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.