Bethel, OK - District Data

Original Research by School Decision on Bethel

Bethel is a district serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Pottawatomie County. It operates three schools: an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. For a family trying to understand what this district offers, the picture that emerges from the available data is one of a mid-sized rural district with some bright spots in the early grades and clear challenges as students get older.

The district’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the top quartile among Pottawatomie County’s districts. That is a genuinely strong position relative to its immediate neighbors. What that top-quartile ranking masks, however, is a steep and consistent drop-off as students move through the grade levels. In third grade, math proficiency is solid, with roughly half of students scoring at or above grade level. By eighth grade, that figure falls to a much lower level. The same pattern appears in English language arts, where the early elementary grades show reasonable results and the upper grades show a clear majority of students scoring below the proficient benchmark. Science results follow a similar but less dramatic arc, with fifth-grade performance on firmer ground than eighth.

A parent looking at these results will want to ask the school what drives this decline. The data alone cannot explain whether it is a curriculum shift, a middle-school transition issue, or something else. But the pattern is pronounced enough that a family with a student approaching middle school would want to have a conversation about how the district supports older students.

On matters of student well-being, the district reports a rate of chronic absenteeism that places it in the top quartile among Pottawatomie County districts, meaning fewer students are missing large amounts of school compared to peers in the county. That is a positive indicator of student engagement and attendance stability.

The district’s spending per pupil falls in the lower range among the county’s districts. This is not unusual for a district of this type in a rural part of the state, but it does suggest that Bethel is operating on a leaner budget than some of its neighbors. What that means in practice for class sizes, extracurricular offerings, or facility maintenance is not something the available data addresses directly.

Housing in the district’s attendance area is notably affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. The typical home value is well below the Oklahoma average and substantially below the national average. Rent is similarly modest. For a family looking to buy a home or rent, the Bethel area represents a relatively low-cost entry point into the housing market. The district’s catchment area includes parts of Shawnee and the surrounding rural communities, and home values vary by zip code, with some areas near Shawnee being more affordable and others in outlying communities like Newalla or McLoud being somewhat higher.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of students identifying as two or more races, a notable presence of American Indian or Alaska Native students, and smaller shares of Hispanic and Black students. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and on the number of students with disabilities or English learner status was not available, which is an important gap for any family trying to understand the full socioeconomic and support-needs profile of the schools.

The district brief turned up no recent major changes that would affect a family’s decision, such as a bond referendum, a curriculum overhaul, or a property-tax change. That may reflect a period of stability, or it may mean that such developments are simply not publicly prominent.

Bethel is a district where the early grades show a level of academic performance that compares well with other districts in the county, and where attendance appears strong. The middle and upper grades present a different story, one that a prospective parent would want to explore directly with the school administration. The housing market in the area is accessible, and the district serves a community that is neither growing rapidly nor shrinking in a way that would suggest instability. For a family that values a small-district environment and is prepared to be hands-on with their child’s academic trajectory through the later grades, Bethel warrants a closer look.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

1,185

Grades

PK–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 6%

Black 1%

White 66%

Asian 0%

Two+ 16%

Am. Indian / AK Native 11%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

Schools in this District

3 schools are officially reported under this district.

BETHEL ES

BETHEL HS

BETHEL MS

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

6 grades reported

58%

Grade 3

53%

Grade 4

42%

Grade 5

46%

Grade 6

24%

Grade 7

13%

Grade 8

English Language Arts

5 grades reported

48%

Grade 3

34%

Grade 5

24%

Grade 6

26%

Grade 7

20%

Grade 8

Science

2 grades reported

47%

Grade 5

42%

Grade 8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$161,228

Year-over-year change+2.7%

Range across 5 ZIP codes$136K to $273K

vs. state typical0.73x

vs. national typical0.44x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (5 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
74801	Shawnee	$136K	+2.1%	64.8%
74873		$169K	+5.1%	15.4%
74851	McLoud	$231K	+3.0%	15.2%
74857	Newalla	$273K	+2.3%	2.7%
74804	Shawnee	$228K	+3.4%	1.9%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$1,052/mo

Year-over-year change+2.2%

Range across 2 ZIP codes$1,047 to $1,234/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (2 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
74801	Shawnee	$1,047	+2.1%	64.8%
74804	Shawnee	$1,234	+3.9%	1.9%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$814/mo

Home price / national median income1.9x

Annual rent / national median income15.1%

Rent exceeds est. mortgage by$239/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$221,765 (+2.2% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.