Enrollment
520
Arkansas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Ward, AR
Ward Central Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Ward Central Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 46/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 050375000170
👥 S:T ratio 35
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 48
📋 Attendance 29
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Ward Central Elementary earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 74% of Arkansas schools.
- 46
- Resource Index · Typical
- 16.3:1
- large classes for Arkansas
- 46.6%
- free-lunch eligible
- 520
- students enrolled
Ward Central Elementary has class sizes larger than 74% of Arkansas schools. Computed live against every Arkansas school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Cabot School District · Arkansas
NCES ID 050375000170 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
32.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
16.3:1
vs 13.6:1 Arkansas avg
+20% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
46.6%
vs 59.2% Arkansas avg
-21% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Ward Central Elementary compares with Arkansas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Ward Central Elementary
Ward Central Elementary is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Ward, Arkansas, enrolling 520 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 16.3:1 puts it in the larger third of Arkansas schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 46.6% lands close to the Arkansas typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 520 puts it in the larger third of Arkansas schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,066 scored Arkansas schools.
Against 297 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #117.
Its student body is led by White (79%) and Two or More (11%) (diversity index 36/100).
Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 260 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 28.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 15.7% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Cabot School District also operates Cabot High School (2,170 students) and Cabot Junior High North (920 students) alongside Ward Central Elementary.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Ward Central Elementary compares
Ward Central Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Arkansas and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Arkansas | Arkansas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 16.3:1 | ▲ 20% | 13.6:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 46.6% | ▼ 21% | 59.2% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 520 | top 29% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
16.3:1
Leaner classes than 36% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
520
Bigger than 64% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
46.6%
free-lunch eligible
- 21% below the Arkansas average of 59.2%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
16.3:1
students per teacher
- 20% above state mean
Top 74% in Arkansas - lower ratio than 26% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
28.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$9,980
per pupil, district-wide
- below Arkansas avg of $12,251
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 260 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 10 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 78.7%
Two or More 11.2%
Hispanic or Latino 8.1%
African American 1.9%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: White at 78.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 36.1/100
Simpson diversity index - at 36.1, Ward Central Elementary is less mixed than the Arkansas school average of 40.4.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cabot School District, which includes Ward Central Elementary.
$9,980
Per student
-19%
vs Arkansas
Avg $12,251
-40%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 27.8%
State 56.5%
Federal 15.7%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Ward Central Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabot High School | Larger | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Cabot Junior High North | Larger | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Cabot Middle School North | Larger | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Cabot Freshman Academy | Larger | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Cabot Middle School South | Larger | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Ward Central Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 2,170
- Students per teacher
- 16.6:1
- Resource Index
- 39/100
- Enrollment
- 920
- Students per teacher
- 16.7:1
- Resource Index
- 42/100
- Enrollment
- 828
- Students per teacher
- 15.6:1
- Resource Index
- 47/100
- Enrollment
- 827
- Students per teacher
- 15.9:1
- Resource Index
- 32/100
- Enrollment
- 747
- Students per teacher
- 16.6:1
- Resource Index
- 46/100
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Arkansas, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~520 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Ward Central Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Ward Central Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Cabot School District's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Ward Central Elementary
How many students attend Ward Central Elementary?
Ward Central Elementary has 520 students enrolled. It is a public school in Ward, AR.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ward Central Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Ward Central Elementary is 16.3:1, which is 20% higher than the Arkansas average of 13.6:1 and 4% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Ward Central Elementary?
46.6% of students at Ward Central Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arkansas average of 59.2%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Ward Central Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Ward Central Elementary is White at 78.7% of enrollment, in Ward, AR.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Ward Central Elementary?
Ward Central Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 46/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Ward Central Elementary a good school?
Ward Central Elementary earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 74% of Arkansas schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Cabot School District?
Besides Ward Central Elementary, Cabot School District also operates Cabot High School (2,170 students), Cabot Junior High North (920 students), and Cabot Middle School North (828 students). See the Cabot School District district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.