The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Science. The lowest is 45% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mt. Vernon/enola High School
Mt. Vernon/Enola High School serves seventh through twelfth grade in a small, rural Faulkner County community. The school is the only secondary campus in the Mount Vernon-Enola School District, a system created years ago by the consolidation of the Enola and Mount Vernon districts. The town of Mount Vernon itself is a small, primarily residential rural place that the 2020 census recorded as having a modest population, and it continues to show minimal growth. The school district is one of the area’s significant local institutions. Arkansas Highway 36 runs through town, putting Conway roughly a half-hour drive away and Little Rock farther out, so families who work in or need the services of a larger city have a commute. The Mt. Vernon Public Library on Highway 36 is a local civic anchor.
The student body is small for a secondary school covering six grades, and it is overwhelmingly white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places a majority of the enrollment in that category. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not reported in the available records. That gap may reflect the school’s size or reporting practices; a parent who needs specific information on supports in those areas would want to ask the school directly.
On the state’s ATLAS assessments, which Arkansas uses to measure proficiency, the school’s results present a mixed picture that lands above the midpoint among Faulkner County districts when all tested subjects and grades are averaged together. In seventh-grade reading, more than half of students scored at the proficient or above levels, and seventh-grade science came in higher still. Eighth-grade reading was softer, with fewer than half of students reaching that bar. In math, both seventh and eighth grade posted results that were below half. The proficiency pattern is uneven: the school shows a clear strength in science for both tested grades, reasonable performance in seventh-grade English, and a softer spot in math that a parent may want to explore further with the school. Because the school does not serve tested grades beyond eighth on the ATLAS system, there is no state accountability data for high-school-level performance from this source. A graduation rate was also not available in the data provided, which is often the case when a school’s grade band includes high school but reporting may have been incomplete; a parent or guardian may wish to ask the school for its most recent four-year graduation rate.
The school does not appear to operate as a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported. No information was provided on course access, dual credit offerings, Advanced Placement, career and technical education pathways, or staffing ratios. Without that data, it is not possible to describe the breadth of the academic program beyond the tested subjects. A family considering this school would likely want to ask about the specific courses, college-prep options, and vocational programs available, particularly for the upper grades.
For housing context, the local market in the area around Mount Vernon shows home values somewhat above the statewide benchmark for Arkansas and notably below the national figure. The estimated monthly mortgage cost, using a standard down payment and a recent mortgage rate, runs somewhat higher than the estimated rent for a comparable property, which may shape a family’s housing decision. Unemployment nationally has been steady, and the broader economic picture is stable, but these are national figures, not local to Faulkner County.
Mount Vernon’s limited growth and rural setting mean this is a place where a family gets a small-school environment in a town that has not seen rapid development. The high school’s academic profile on state tests is a blend of stronger science outcomes and weaker math ones, with a countywide ranking that places it on the upper half of the district set in Faulkner County. For a parent who values a small, predominantly white, rural secondary school with a high proportion of students from lower-income households and a mixed record on state assessments, this school fits that description. For a parent seeking detailed program information, high school outcomes, or specific support services, the available data leaves those questions unanswered, and they would need to come from the school directly.
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