COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, a small primary school in WICKES, Arkansas, overseen by COSSATOT RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT, works with 200 students, covering grades 3 through 6. Enrollment runs roughly 52% below the state mean of about 418.

COSSATOT RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 855 students; COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL logs that 66% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 24% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 3% Native American. The wider county runs roughly 88% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL records 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 14.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 16.0:1, putting COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 99% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Polk County (around 74%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 22.9%; this one delivers 48.7%, a residual of +25.8 points.

Across the wider county, Polk County reports that the typical household earns roughly $49,191 per year, 18% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Polk County runs 11 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,063 students), of which COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.

Nearest neighbor: COSSATOT RIVER PRIMARY SCHOOL, around 6.1 miles off. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 1st on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 36.5%.

The school occupies a rural site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at COSSATOT RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has declined 35%, going from 306 students in 2018 to 200 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share shrank from 43% to 24%. Class-load math has loosened: from 12.8:1 in 2018 to 14.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.