The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Maynard Elementary School
Maynard Elementary School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in the small, rural town of Maynard, Arkansas. The school is part of the Maynard School District, which also operates the high school, and the elementary grounds are situated within the town itself, on property that once housed a private academy the district later acquired. For a family considering this school, what emerges from the available data is a picture of a deeply rural, low-income community where the elementary school is a central institution, but where academic outcomes are a real area of concern.
Nearly all of the roughly three hundred students at Maynard Elementary come from families with low incomes, a reflection of the local economy, which includes a sawmill, construction and trucking firms, and a bank branch. The town itself is experiencing population decline, and housing values are well below both the state and national averages, making it one of the more affordable areas in Arkansas. The student body is overwhelmingly white, and class sizes across the grade levels appear fairly typical for a school of this size.
The core of what a parent needs to understand about academics comes from the state’s ATLAS assessments. Performance across tested subjects and grades is a significant soft spot. In math, proficiency rates were low in every tested grade, with a slight uptick in fourth grade but a particularly weak showing in fifth grade. English language arts results were also low across all grades, with no single grade reaching a rate that would be considered on solid ground. Science performance was slightly stronger in third grade but dropped off in subsequent grades, with sixth grade especially low. Overall, when compared to other districts in Randolph County, Maynard Elementary’s proficiency index placed it above the midpoint of the small cohort of districts in the county, but the absolute level of performance is modest. A parent should look into this further with the school to understand what instructional supports and interventions are in place.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to evaluate. The data did not provide information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios, so a parent would want to inquire about school climate and teacher stability directly. The district brief turned up no major recent changes, such as a new strategic plan or a significant program overhaul, meaning the academic picture described here likely represents a steady state.
For a family rooted in or moving to this corner of northeast Arkansas, Maynard Elementary is the neighborhood school. It serves a community of modest means in a town that is shrinking, not growing. The extreme concentration of low-income students means the school is very likely a hub for social services and free meal programs, and it may be a supportive environment for a child who needs that stability. The academic numbers, however, are a challenge. A parent whose priority is strong test performance or a curriculum that pushes above grade level would want to explore the school’s specific classroom practices and any enrichment or intervention programs. A family that values a small-town, tight-knit setting where the school is woven into the fabric of the town may find it a comfortable fit, provided they are prepared to engage actively with the school to support their child’s academic progress.
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