Mabelvale Elementary School, Mabelvale AR

Original Research by School Decision on Mabelvale Elementary School

Mabelvale Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Little Rock School District, located in the Mabelvale neighborhood in the southern part of Little Rock. Mabelvale began as a 19th-century railroad town and was annexed by Little Rock in the 1970s, though it retains its own ZIP code and a distinct identity. The neighborhood is a mix of residential areas and commercial corridors, including The Outlets of Little Rock and local businesses along Main Street and Sardis Road. Morehart Park functions as the primary civic anchor, and public transportation is available on a Central Arkansas Transit Authority bus route.

The school’s enrollment is fairly midsized for an elementary school serving this grade band. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a fact that places this among schools where economic need is high. The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with a smaller white enrollment and very small shares of Asian and multiracial students. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners were not reported, a gap a parent might wish to ask the school about directly.

On state assessments, proficiency rates are low across all three tested subjects and every grade level. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was in the single digits or the high teens, depending on the grade. In English language arts, the same pattern holds: proficiency rates are well below the midpoint of what is typical. In science, results are similarly low. When measured against other districts in Pulaski County, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. This pattern is consistent across the grades and subjects tested, and it is a point a parent should weigh carefully and discuss with the school about what supports are in place and how progress is being tracked.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. That is expected for this grade band and does not reflect on the school’s performance. The school does not serve grades where a graduation rate applies, so the gap is inherent to the type of school this is.

The Little Rock School District was researched for any recent parent-relevant changes such as bond elections, school closures, or curriculum adoptions, but no lasting changes were found in public reporting. A parent looking for new initiatives or shifts in the district’s approach to elementary instruction might need to reach out to the school or district office directly, as that information was not available in the materials reviewed.

Housing in the Mabelvale area is more affordable than the state median, meaning families buying a home here typically pay less than what home shoppers pay in much of Arkansas. The national unemployment rate was around the low end of the recent range at the time of these figures, though local context for Mabelvale itself was not separately available.

This school sits in a neighborhood with a separate postal identity, a park system that includes a large municipal park, and a mix of older homes and newer retail development anchored by an outlet mall. For a family choosing an elementary school, the academic results give a clear picture of where the school stands relative to its county peers, and the economic context of the student body suggests this is a school serving a population with high need. A parent would want to understand what early literacy and math interventions are used, how the school supports struggling students, and what the path to improvement looks like from the leadership team’s perspective.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 30% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 33% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 30% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 28% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 33% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 29% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 35%

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

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

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 32% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 26% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

This schoolLITTLE ROCK 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 4Lower-income7%Higher-income17%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income10%Higher-income17%7 pp gap