The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in Science. The lowest is 26% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Mansfield Elementary School
Mansfield Elementary School serves kindergarten through fourth grade in the Mansfield School District, a small rural district that straddles the Scott-Sebastian county line in western Arkansas. The town of Mansfield itself is a compact rural community oriented around the Highway 71 corridor, about a 25-mile drive south of Fort Smith. The local economy is anchored by the West Fraser lumber company, with the nearby Ouachita National Forest supplying much of the raw material. The town’s population has been gradually declining over the past several decades, and the most notable recent infrastructure investment was a new high school complex built outside the original town center. Housing in the area is modestly priced relative to national benchmarks, and the broader economic context shows an unemployment rate near the national average.
A substantial share of students at Mansfield Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that over three-quarters of the student body comes from lower-income households. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with small numbers of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students also enrolled. The school is a traditional public school and is not a charter or magnet school. Enrollment data by grade shows roughly even class sizes across kindergarten through fourth grade, with the largest group in fourth grade.
State testing results from the 2024-25 school year provide a picture of where student proficiency currently stands. In mathematics, about one-third of third graders scored at or above the proficient level, while for fourth graders that share was notably lower. In English language arts, roughly three in ten third graders met the proficient benchmark, and about one in five fourth graders did. In science, about one-third of third graders and one-quarter of fourth graders reached the proficient threshold. These proficiency rates collectively place the school above the midpoint among the two districts in Scott County, though the comparison set is small. A parent looking at these results should know that the school is using Arkansas’s ATLAS assessment, a newer state test, and that the trend comparability with earlier years is not yet established.
Because Mansfield Elementary serves only grades K-4, there is no high school graduation rate to report from this building itself. Students in the district move on to Mansfield Middle School and then Mansfield High School, which are separate campuses. The district’s website and publicly available data did not show any major recent changes affecting families, such as boundary shifts, new program launches, or leadership turnover. The school has not been flagged for any special designation related to its Title I status in the data provided, so that information remains unavailable.
Families considering this school should weigh the rural setting, the small town character, and the modest housing costs against the academic proficiency levels, which are below state averages. The school is physically separate from the downtown area, with newer facilities located near the old Chocoville site. The local library branch has been temporarily closed, reducing one of the typical civic anchors for families with young children. For a parent who values a small-town elementary school with a consistent teaching staff and a close-knit community, Mansfield Elementary fits that profile. For a parent hoping for higher proficiency rates or more academic enrichment options in the early grades, the testing data suggests further conversation with the school about how it supports students who are below grade-level benchmarks.
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