In 2012, Acorn High School was nationally recognized as a selectee in the first-ever U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School (ED-GRS) recognition award program. The school campus includes a outdoor classroom that includes a vegetable garden and a greenhouse, and students established a protection program for an endangered Ozark Chinquapin tree discovered near the campus. Acorn High School science teacher Kathy Rusert was honored as the 2012 Rural Teacher of the Year Award by the Arkansas Rural Education Association and was one of five educators in the nation named a 2012 National Project Learning Tree Outstanding Teacher.
