Two Lake Hamilton schools have earned recognition from the Office for Education Policy (OEP) at the University of Arkansas for demonstrating exceptional student academic growth.
Lake Hamilton Junior High School and Lake Hamilton Intermediate School have been named 2026 Beating the Odds award recipients, recognizing schools where students demonstrated high academic growth on the ATLAS assessment despite economic challenges outside of school.
Lake Hamilton Junior High
Lake Hamilton Junior High received the following recognition:
๐ High Math Growth โ Central Region
Lake Hamilton Intermediate
Lake Hamilton Intermediate received two recognitions:
๐ High Science Growth โ Statewide
๐ High Science Growth โ Central Region
The awards are part of OEP's annual Outstanding Educational Performance Awards, which recognize Arkansas schools demonstrating high levels of student academic growth.
OEP describes student growth as an important measure of a school's impact because it looks beyond a student's achievement at a single point in time. Growth scores reflect how much students improved compared with other Arkansas students who had similar levels of prior achievement.
The Beating the Odds awards specifically recognize high-growth schools where at least 66% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
These recognitions reflect the hard work taking place every day in our classrooms and the commitment of our students, teachers, staff, and families to continued academic growth.
Congratulations to Lake Hamilton Junior High and Lake Hamilton Intermediate on earning these outstanding recognitions and continuing to demonstrate what is possible when our students and educators work together toward excellence!
Learn more about the 2026 Outstanding Educational Performance Awards and view the complete list of recipients through the University of Arkansas Office for Education Policy.