Southside High School

FORT SMITH · AR · FORT SMITH SCHOOL DISTRICT · Public


AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally 13 AP courses

At a glance

Programs & features
  • 13 AP courses offered — Elite
  • Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • Gifted & talented program
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: 82nd percentile nationally
  • SAT/ACT participation: 93rd percentile by test-taker volume
  • 4-yr grad rate: 91% in 2019 (54th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Southside High School compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 18% nationally with 13 AP courses.
  • LocallyAR trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−5 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL, VAN BUREN HIGH SCHOOL, WESTERN ARKANSAS TECHNICAL CENTER and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

82nd percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
13
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
354
≈17 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
5
0 calculus · 5 advanced
Lab science classes
72
40 physics · 32 chemistry
Other rigor signals
Dual-enrollment program
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 · 2020-21

93rd percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
533
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
26.1
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: 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.

4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

54th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
91%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
452
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
5.8%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
36.5%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

Federal Title I context

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

48.3%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

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

72%
admit rate
$10,104
in-state tuition/yr · $29,966 out-of-state
1050–1220
SAT 25–75 · ACT 21–28

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.

See the full University of Arkansas profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
6.7%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
120
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

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.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
411:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
5.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
158
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

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

Grade 12 went from 365 in 2021 to 444 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+21.6%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +4.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,053 students:

2025
2,139
2027
2,323
2029
2,522

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $13,752 per student in district revenue, the 469 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $6,449,688/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

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.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
FORT SMITH
Public 2.4 2,231 -10.6%
VAN BUREN HIGH SCHOOL
VAN BUREN
Public 8.2 1,232 +8.2%
WESTERN ARKANSAS TECHNICAL CENTER
FORT SMITH
Public 2.4
GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
GREENWOOD
Public 11.7 1,158 +32.6%
ALMA HIGH SCHOOL
ALMA
Public 12.9 981 -3.8%
SPRINGDALE HIGH SCHOOL
SPRINGDALE
Public 59.5 2,207 +8.1%
HAR-BER HIGH SCHOOL
SPRINGDALE
Public 58.6 2,268 -0.5%
ROGERS HIGH SCHOOL
ROGERS
Public 67.2 2,490 +15.7%

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