COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of the average-sized elementary schools in PINE BLUFF, Arkansas, one of the schools within WATSON CHAPEL SCHOOL DISTRICT, with 426 students on its rolls from grades 2 through 5.

WATSON CHAPEL SCHOOL DISTRICT comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 1,552 students; COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is among them.

On demographics, COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that 86% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. Beyond that, the school lists 10% White, 3% multiracial. By comparison, Jefferson County as a whole is about 57% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL lists 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 16.0:1, putting COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 80% of students at COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 29.6%, the actual is 18.0%, a residual of -11.6 points.

Across the wider county, Jefferson County reports that the typical household earns roughly $51,096 per year, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 15%. In all, Jefferson County runs 28 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,520 students), of which COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.

The closest other public school is EDGEWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, roughly 1.5 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 9.7%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 34%: 641 students in 2018 compared to 426 in 2025. The White share of enrollment shrank from 18% to 10% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.7:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the COLEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.