POLK COUNTY VIRTUAL ACADEMY
MENA · AR · MENA SCHOOL DISTRICT · Public charter · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
UA RICH MOUNTAIN TECHNICAL CENTER → LISA ACADEMY ROGERS-BENTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL → PREMIER HIGH SCHOOL OF FAYETTEVILLE → CENTERPOINT ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE & SKILLED TRADE → COSSATOT COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE UA → WESTERN ARKANSAS TECHNICAL CENTER → NATIONAL PARK TECHNOLOGY CENTER → UA HOPE TEXARKANA TECHNICAL CENTER →📋 At a glance
- 📚 4 AP courses offered — Moderate
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 47% of US high schools
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How POLK COUNTY VIRTUAL ACADEMY compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ LocallyAR trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−5 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: UA RICH MOUNTAIN TECHNICAL CENTER, LISA ACADEMY ROGERS-BENTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, PREMIER HIGH SCHOOL OF FAYETTEVILLE and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Moderate — some AP / advanced course access
Bottom 47% of US high schools
✅ Gifted/talented program
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
🏛️ Federal Title I context
Title I Schoolwide eligible
≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program
40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
🏛️ Your state's public flagship
University of Arkansas
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $18,209/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -8.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 12 students:
A small or specialty program — naive trend math doesn't capture the school's full picture. Read the trend as directional, not predictive.
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UA RICH MOUNTAIN TECHNICAL CENTER Mena |
Public | 0.8 | — | — |
| LISA ACADEMY ROGERS-BENTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ROGERS |
Public · charter | 120.9 | 12 | — |
| PREMIER HIGH SCHOOL OF FAYETTEVILLE LITTLE ROCK |
Public · charter | 105.3 | 14 | — |
| CENTERPOINT ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE & SKILLED TRADE AMITY |
Public · charter | 45.0 | 4 | — |
| COSSATOT COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE UA Dequeen |
Public | 38.1 | — | — |
| WESTERN ARKANSAS TECHNICAL CENTER FORT SMITH |
Public | 56.1 | — | — |
| NATIONAL PARK TECHNOLOGY CENTER HOT SPRINGS |
Public | 62.7 | — | — |
| UA HOPE TEXARKANA TECHNICAL CENTER Hope |
Public | 74.0 | — | — |