NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL

NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL is one of the substantial middle-grades schools in VAN BUREN, Arkansas, operated by VAN BUREN SCHOOL DISTRICT, with 713 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 54% larger than the state mean of about 464.

VAN BUREN SCHOOL DISTRICT runs 11 schools in total, collectively educating 5,703 students. NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL is one of those campuses.

In terms of who attends, NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL logs that the largest single group is White, at 70% of enrollment. Other groups include 16% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 3% Asian. By comparison, Crawford County as a whole is about 81% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, On paper, NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL has 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 51% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Crawford County (around 65%), the school's rate is somewhat below typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 39.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 46.0%.

In the broader community, census data for Crawford County shows the typical household earns roughly $64,132 per year, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL is one of 23 public schools in Crawford County (combined enrollment of about 10,496 students).

Nearest neighbor: RIVER VALLEY VIRTUAL ACADEMY, around 0.1 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL comes 2nd of 7 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 35.6%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 16%: 616 students in 2018 compared to 713 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 10% to 16% across the same window. Class-load math has widened: from 13.4:1 in 2018 to 16.0:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, members of the NORTHRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.