The top reported proficiency rate is 23% in English language arts. The lowest is 18% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Annie Camp Jr. High School
Annie Camp Junior High School serves seventh through ninth grade as part of the Jonesboro School District, located in a mid-sized regional hub in northeast Arkansas. Jonesboro blends residential neighborhoods with a university campus, healthcare complexes, retail corridors, and food-processing industry. The city spans a large area, and six separate public school districts operate within its limits, meaning the built environment is multi-node and car-dependent. The Jonesboro district itself has not recently reported major parent-relevant changes such as referenda or curriculum shifts, so the school operates without a known recent disruption in district policy or funding.
The school enrolls a student body that is mixed by race and ethnicity, with a substantial share of Black students and a smaller but present share of Hispanic students, plus a modest share of students who identify as two or more races. White students make up roughly a third of the population. Every student attending Annie Camp qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a data point that signals a high degree of economic need across the building. The school does not report counts for students with disabilities or English learners, which leaves a gap for any parent wanting to understand the special education or language-support landscape. This may be a data-reporting gap rather than an absence of those populations, and a family with a child who receives services may want to ask the school directly about its programs.
Academically, the state testing picture shows a school where proficiency rates are low. On the Arkansas ATLAS assessment in the most recent year, seventh-grade math proficiency was below a third of students tested, and eighth-grade math was markedly lower. In English language arts, both seventh and eighth graders scored near the same modest level. Science results were similar. When compared across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile among districts in Craighead County, a comparison that includes eight districts. This is a soft spot, and a parent looking for strong academic attainment would want to investigate further with the school about how instruction is structured and what supports are in place.
The school does not have a graduation rate to report, which makes sense for a junior high that does not serve the terminal high school grades. No data on discipline, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, or course access was available, so it is not possible to describe the school environment, class sizes, or the breadth of course offerings from the information at hand. For a school that covers early high school grades, the absence of course-access data is notable; a parent might ask whether advanced or career-preparation courses are available to ninth graders.
Housing in the school’s zip code is priced moderately below the state average, and rents are also below the statewide benchmark. The area has seen a modest increase in home values and rents over the past year. The national context shows a typical thirty-year fixed mortgage rate that has hovered around the mid-single digits, and the unemployment rate has been stable at a moderate level. For a parent moving into the area, the housing market is accessible relative to the state, and the regional economy is anchored by the university and healthcare.
Annie Camp Junior High is a school serving a high-need population in a growing, multi-district city. Its academic results are a clear concern, sitting at the lower end of county comparisons, and a parent shopping for a middle or junior high school will want to understand what academic interventions or enrichment exist. The school’s grade band means students move on to a high school within the Jonesboro district, so the feeder pattern is a relevant part of the picture. Without staffing or program data, much of the day-to-day experience at the school remains opaque from this record.
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