The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in Math. The lowest is 56% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Crestwood Elementary School
Crestwood Elementary School in North Little Rock serves children from kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of the North Little Rock School District. It sits in a residential area of the city, which is a distinct municipality across the Arkansas River from Little Rock rather than a bedroom suburb. North Little Rock is a mid-sized city with several distinct neighborhoods and a downtown Argenta Historic District that has drawn investment and new residents through beautification efforts in recent decades. The city offers extensive parks, including one of the largest city-owned parks in the country, an Arkansas River Trail, and venues like Simmons Bank Arena. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to national norms, and the rental market is similarly positioned, making the community accessible to a range of households.
Crestwood is a neighborhood elementary school where every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a high-poverty context that the school works within. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable share of Black students and smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. The school serves a consistent enrollment for its grade band.
Academically, Crestwood Elementary stands out. On the state’s ATLAS assessments in the most recent school year, the school’s overall proficiency across math, English language arts, and science placed it in the top quartile among districts in Pulaski County. This is a strong result for any elementary school, particularly one serving a student population where all families qualify for income-based meal assistance. In math, proficiency was solid across the tested grades, and in reading the school posted similar results. Science results also reflected a strong share of students meeting the state’s proficiency benchmark. The district recently adopted a new K-5 English Language Arts curriculum grounded in the Science of Reading, a shift mandated by Arkansas’s Right to Read Act. That change, now in place for the school year that just concluded, aligns Crestwood’s literacy instruction with structured phonics and comprehension methods, which may further support the school’s reading outcomes.
For families considering this school, a few factors are worth noting. Because Crestwood serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to evaluate, and data on chronic absenteeism was not available. The school environment details such as discipline rates, staffing ratios, and course access were also not reported in the available data, so a parent may want to inquire about those directly with the school or district.
The district itself has seen notable changes in recent years. Voters approved a millage increase that funded a new North Little Rock High School facility, which opened in 2023. That same election brought a lasting property-tax increase for district residents alongside a major new building for high school students. The district is also launching a new career and technical education program at the high school with pathways in healthcare, welding, and information technology. While these high-school-level developments do not directly affect Crestwood’s current students, they shape the feeder pattern families will enter as their children move through the system.
Crestwood Elementary is a school that delivers strong academic results relative to its county peers, operating in a city that has been investing in its downtown and public spaces. For a family looking for an elementary school with a proven track record in a community that is growing modestly and offers a mix of urban amenities and suburban space, Crestwood warrants a close look. The high rate of economic need among its families means the school likely provides a range of support services, though the available data did not detail those. Parents would benefit from visiting and talking with the principal about how the school addresses the needs of its students day to day.
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