DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY

DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY is an elementary-level community of tight-knit scale in DECATUR, Arkansas, run under DECATUR SCHOOL DISTRICT, caters to 278 students in grades pre-K through 4. That puts it 33% leaner than the typical public school in Arkansas, which averages around 418 students.

DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY is one of 3 schools operated by DECATUR SCHOOL DISTRICT, a district that caters to 613 students overall.

Demographically, DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY records that the largest single group is White at 44%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 44% Hispanic, 6% Pacific Islander, 3% Native American, 2% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 60% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school lists 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.7:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 16.0:1 average. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Benton County runs at roughly 37%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 22.3%, the actual is 20.9%, a residual of -1.4 points.

Across the wider county, census data for Benton County shows the typical household earns roughly $93,506 per year, 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Across Benton County's 88 public schools (combined enrollment of about 57,071 students), DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is DECATUR MIDDLE SCHOOL, roughly 1.7 miles away. Within five miles, there are 5 other public schools. On composite proficiency, DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY comes 6th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 34.4%.

The school occupies a countryside site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at DECATUR NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY has ticked up 21%, going from 229 students in 2018 to 278 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 55% to 44% over that span. Class-load math has loosened: from 12.6:1 in 2018 to 13.7:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.