The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Riverside Middle School
Riverside Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Riverside USD 114 district, located in Wathena, Kansas. The school is small, with an enrollment that reflects the size of the community it draws from. Wathena itself is a primarily residential town in Doniphan County, roughly a short drive west of St. Joseph, Missouri, and is part of the St. Joseph metropolitan area. The town has seen a population decline in recent decades, and its character is that of a bedroom community where most residents commute by car to jobs outside town, many likely in St. Joseph. The median home value in the area is well below national and state benchmarks, and housing is relatively affordable by those broader standards.
The student body is predominantly white, with the largest minority groups being students who identify as two or more races and Hispanic students, each making up a modest share of the enrollment. Black and American Indian or Alaska Native students together account for a very small portion. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that places the school in a context where a substantial share of families have lower household income. Data on the share of students with individualized education programs or who are English learners was not available.
Academically, the picture from state testing shows a pattern where performance varies by grade and subject. In math, proficiency rates for the most recent testing year are in the range that families would want to look into further. The share of students scoring proficient or above in sixth-grade math is around the midpoint, but in seventh and eighth grades the rates are notably lower. In English language arts, the results are mixed. Sixth and eighth graders show proficiency rates in a moderate range, while seventh-grade ELA proficiency is lower, similar to the pattern in math. Eighth-grade science results are also in a lower range. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile relative to the other districts in Doniphan County, a comparison that places it behind its three peer districts on this composite measure. The state assessment underwent a cut-score change in recent years, meaning the bar for proficiency shifted, so comparisons to earlier years are not straightforward.
The district itself did not have any major recent changes surfaced in publicly available sources, so the school appears to operate in a stable district context. The school’s website was not provided, so details on specific programs, electives, or enrichment opportunities are not available here.
For a parent or resident evaluating this school, the practical takeaway is that Riverside Middle School is a small, affordable setting in a quiet, car-dependent town. The student body is not highly diverse, and a majority of families have modest incomes. The academic results on state assessments are soft, particularly in the upper middle school grades, and the school trails its county peers on overall proficiency. A parent would want to ask the school directly about how it supports students who are not yet proficient, what interventions are in place for seventh and eighth graders, and what the school’s approach is to math and reading instruction. The absence of data on special education, English learner services, discipline, attendance, and course access means those are open questions to raise with the school as well.
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