Enrollment
286
Elementary
DISTRICT 354 · STATE 418
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FORT SMITH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 050633000351
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2601 S Q ST, FORT SMITH, AR 72901 · (479) 783-1280 · Sebastian County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL286 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 64% of Arkansas public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Arkansas public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
18.8:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.1:1 · STATE 16.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
192 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 70%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 20 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 41 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 25 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 49 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 49 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (41) is 16% smaller than its 5th grade class (49).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 61% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
ATLAS 2024-25 . % Proficient (Level 3+4)English Language Arts
44.3%
AR avg 34.9% . +5.2pp since 2023
Math
45.8%
AR avg 38.9% . +6.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the ATLAS, Arkansas's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 46 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Arkansas schools, those numbers are about 35 and 39. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
ATLAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.3% | 45.8% |
| 2023-24 | 39.1% | 39.4% |
% Proficient (Level 3+4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: ATLAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
41.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.9%
based on AR schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% typical for Arkansas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Arkansas's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's state test result (41.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL this school | 286 | 67.1% | 41.6% |
| ANGIE GRANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BENTON | 340 | 66.2% | 27.1% |
| DARDANELLE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DARDANELLE | 315 | 74.9% | 34.3% |
| BERRYVILLE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL BERRYVILLE | 406 | 73.4% | 37.1% |
| EUPER LANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FORT SMITH | 397 | 61.5% | 43.3% |
| LAWSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LITTLE ROCK | 220 | 63.2% | 20.9% |
Matched among Arkansas elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Arkansas | In Sebastian County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.6% | #165 of 461 | #8 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 45.8% | #164 of 465 ▲ 33 | #7 of 23 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.3% | #126 of 465 ▲ 57 | #6 of 23 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 286 | #412 of 531 | #20 of 23 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.8:1 | #430 of 480 | #14 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.7% | #69 of 480 | #9 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 67.1% | #312 of 513 | #17 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.6% | #226 of 311 | #16 of 18 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
286
-47 (-14%) vs 2020
-28% since 1990-91, when it was 400
Student : Teacher
18.8:1
was 15.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 286 | 15.2 | 18.8:1 | 67% (192) |
| 2023-24 | 284 | 16.5 | 17.2:1 | 69% (196) |
| 2022-23 | 344 | 19.7 | 17.5:1 | 70% (240) |
| 2020-21 | 333 | 21 | 15.9:1 | 72% (240) |
| 2017-18 | 313 | 21.1 | 14.9:1 | 40% (124) |
| 2015-16 | 326 | 21 | 15.5:1 | 76% (248) |
| 2010-11 | 344 | 21 | 16.4:1 | 71% (244) |
| 2000-01 | 368 | 23 | 16.0:1 | 46% (170) |
| 1990-91 | 400 | 18 | 22.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
About BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits in FORT SMITH, Arkansas, and is classified as an elementary school. The school counts 286 students across pre-K through 5. The school's enrollment is 32% smaller than the 418 average for elementary schools in Arkansas.
The district for BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is FORT SMITH SCHOOL DISTRICT, with 27 schools and 14,164 students.
White students make up a majority at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, at 50%. Other students are 28% Hispanic, 13% multiracial, and 7% Black. That is lower than the 68% White share among all Sebastian County residents. Pick two students at random and there is a 65% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Federal data list 15.2 full-time-equivalent teachers at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in 2024-25, for a ratio of 18.8:1. That is higher than the 16.0:1 average for elementary schools in Arkansas. The lunch program counts 67% of students at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That tracks the 65% average for public schools in Sebastian County.
Measured against Arkansas public elementary schools, BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL receives a B. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is 6.8 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (41.6% versus 34.9%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Arkansas.
Census estimates describe Sebastian County this way: the median household income is $57,790, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 23% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 11%. In all, Sebastian County has 44 public schools and roughly 20,239 students.
PREMIER HIGH SCHOOL OF FORT SMITH is located about 0.7 miles from BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 41.6% is above the 24.0% average for nearby schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Small, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's enrollment declined from 333 in 2020-21 to 286 in 2024-25. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 18.8:1, from 15.9:1.
Discussion on this page can cover school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Sebastian County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
128,900
Census ACS
Median income
$57,790
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
44
20,239 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in FORT SMITH SCHOOL DISTRICT
- NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,231 students
- SOUTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,053 students
- RAMSEY MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 801 students
- DORA KIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 753 students
- L. A. CHAFFIN MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 753 students
- WILLIAM O. DARBY MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 711 students
Other schools in FORT SMITH
- NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,231 students
- SOUTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,053 students
- RAMSEY MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 801 students
- DORA KIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 753 students
- L. A. CHAFFIN MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 753 students
- WILLIAM O. DARBY MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 711 students
Nearby schools
- PREMIER HIGH SCHOOL OF FORT SMITH0.7 mi · 99
- BELLE POINT ALTERNATIVE CENTER0.8 mi · 39
- NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL0.8 mi · 2,231
- FAIRVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.0 mi · 582
- RAMSEY MIDDLE SCHOOL1.1 mi · 801
- PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.3 mi · 387
Frequently asked questions
About BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLWhat is the total enrollment at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 286 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serve?
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Approximately 18.8:1 students per teacher at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
What is the racial breakdown of students at BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
At BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the student body is approximately 50% White, 28% Hispanic, 7% Black, 2% Asian, 13% Two or more.
Who oversees BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
BALLMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is overseen by FORT SMITH SCHOOL DISTRICT in Sebastian County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.