SeattleChange
The school recently switched from a traditional high school curriculum to an academy, or small learning community, curriculum. There are five SLC's (small learning communities) into which students are placed. All ninth grade students begin in the "Freshman Learning Community" before transitioning into one of the interest-based SLC's. BHS also offers a wide variety of courses, including 19 Advanced Placement (AP) classes and the International Baccalaureate Program. In 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2012 Bentonville High School was ranked in the top 1000 best high schools in the nation according to the Newsweek magazine's Top 1000 US Schools. Public schools are ranked according to a ratio called the Challenge Index.
In April 2007, Bentonville High School was approved as an International Baccalaureate World School. In the 2007-2008 school year 16 juniors signed up for the program of in-depth studies, and that number has grown every year. BHS is one of two schools in Arkansas that received the National Blue Ribbon School award in 2007, and one of 38 public high schools in the nation.
2013 End of Course Exam results had BHS with
89% in Reading compared to a state average of 70%91% in Algebra 1 compared to a state average of 77%74% in Biology compared to a state average of 44%93% in Geometry compared to a state average of 72% In 2011, Bentonville School District and its high school were recognized in the AP District of the Year Awards program in the College Board's 1st Annual Honor Roll that consisted of 388 U.S. public school districts (2 in Arkansas) that simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP® courses for a broader number of students and improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.
Bentonville is one of twenty high schools to be recognized with the 2012 College Readiness Award by the Arkansas ACT Council in recognition of improving the participation rate of students taking the ACT college readiness exam.