Marion Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School, West Memphis AR

Original Research by School Decision on Marion Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School

Marion Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School, a public elementary school serving kindergarten through sixth grade, is part of the Marion School District in West Memphis, Arkansas. The name signals an arts focus, though the data available does not include details on the specific programming offered. The school is located in a city that functions primarily as a distribution, trucking, and manufacturing hub, directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee. Major employers include logistics companies, a hospital, and a gaming and entertainment venue. The city has seen population decline in recent years, but also investment in new parks, a public library, and public safety facilities. The city's built environment is heavily oriented toward automobile and truck traffic, with wide highways and interstate infrastructure dominating.

The student body is composed predominantly of Black students, with a smaller percentage of white students, a population identifying as two or more races, and a modest share of Hispanic students. A very large share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves a substantial number of students across each grade from kindergarten through fifth grade, with a somewhat smaller group in sixth grade.

State testing data for the 2024-2025 school year shows that proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science are low across all tested grades. In math, the share of students scoring at a proficient level or above was in the single digits across most grade levels, with fourth grade results somewhat higher. In English language arts, the share of proficient students was also low across all grades, with no grade reaching a rate in the double digits. Science results followed a similar pattern, with the highest rate seen in third grade. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, as these are the most recent available results from the state's assessment.

There is no data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing. The district brief, which was searched for recent changes of lasting impact, turned up little to report. The comparison fact-set, which places the school relative to other districts in Crittenden County, shows that the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint of that small group. Graduation rate and chronic absenteeism comparisons were not applicable, as this is a school that does not serve graduating grades.

For a family considering this school, the core reality is its academic performance picture. The school’s magnet designation points to a focus on the visual and performing arts, but publicly reported test outcomes are low. The community context is that of a mid-sized city with a strong logistics and industrial base, recent investment in public amenities, but a declining population. The student population is heavily concentrated in lower-income households. This is a school where a parent would want to engage directly with the staff about the arts programming, the academic support in place, and the strategies being used to move proficiency rates upward.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 18% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 19%

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

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 9% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 14% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 20% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 19% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 21% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 67%

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

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

Science

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 22% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 49%

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

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

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 17% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 68%

School 8% · District 14% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

This schoolMARION 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 3Lower-income16%Higher-income31%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income12%Higher-income30%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income40%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income16%Higher-income31%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income11%Higher-income10%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income11%Higher-income40%29 pp gap