Scranton Elementary School, Scranton AR

Original Research by School Decision on Scranton Elementary School

Scranton Elementary School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in the small, rural Logan County town of Scranton. It is one of two schools in the Scranton School District, which is a major local employer alongside a handful of highway businesses. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet.

State testing data from the Arkansas ATLAS assessment for the 2024-25 school year is available for grades three through six. Looking across all three tested subjects, the school’s overall proficiency sits above the midpoint of the four districts in Logan County. That top-quartile position is a strength, but the performance within the school is uneven. In math, third and fourth graders show a solid share of students meeting the proficiency bar, while fifth graders reach a lower level and sixth graders land between the two. In English language arts, a similar pattern holds: third and fourth graders are at or near a majority proficient, while fifth and sixth grade results are notably weaker. Science results vary most widely: fourth and fifth graders show distinctly lower proficiency than sixth graders, who score strongly, and third graders sit in the middle. A parent looking at this variation may want to ask the school how it supports students as they move into the upper elementary grades, especially in reading and mathematics.

The student body is small and predominantly white, with small numbers of Hispanic, Asian, Black, and multiracial students. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a substantial share of families with lower household incomes. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Discipline, attendance, and staffing data were also absent from the available information.

Scranton is a very rural community originally founded as a coal mining center, later surviving as an agricultural town. The town covers only a few square miles and is car-dependent, with most residents driving alone to work. Employment is concentrated in retail, manufacturing, and transportation. The housing stock is modest, with median property values that reflect the area’s affordability. There has been very slow, stable population growth over the past century, and no major new housing development is indicated. Civic life centers on the school district and several local churches. The district itself reported no recent property-tax, curriculum, or referendum changes that would have a lasting impact on families.

Given its rural setting and small enrollment, Scranton Elementary would fit a family looking for a tight-knit school in a quiet agricultural community. The academic picture is strongest in the earlier grades and in science at sixth grade, while the middle grades show room for improvement. The school’s overall proficiency position is competitive within Logan County, which includes three other districts, but the variation by grade and subject means a parent should look closely at how the school addresses learning gaps as children get older.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 7 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Science

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 26 pts above state median

This schoolSCRANTON 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-income39%Higher-income25%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income56%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income50%32 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income0%Higher-income39%39 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income23%Higher-income32%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income44%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income70%41 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income13%Higher-income56%43 pp gap