The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Pauline Central Primary
Pauline Central Primary serves students from pre-kindergarten through third grade in the Auburn-Washburn school district, located on the southwest side of Topeka. The school sits within a community that functions as the state capital, with an economy shaped by government employment, manufacturing, and agriculture. Topeka’s population has been roughly stable with a slight recent decline, and the area’s housing values sit below the statewide median, offering relatively more affordable entry points for families compared to other parts of Kansas.
The school enrolls a student body of a size typical for a primary building serving this grade range. The demographic composition is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic presence, a smaller but notable Black population, and a share of students who identify as two or more races. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a higher-poverty context for the district and the county.
State testing results are available only for third grade, the top grade in the building, and Kansas changed its cut scores for the math and English language arts assessments in the most recent testing year, which makes direct comparison with prior years uncertain. In math, roughly a quarter of third graders scored proficient or above. In English language arts, the figure was about a third. Looked at against a composite of all tested subjects and grades across the school, overall proficiency places Pauline Central Primary in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Shawnee County. The comparison is limited because the school only has one tested grade, and the cohort among county districts includes a mix of schools serving older students, so the positioning should be read with that caveat in mind. A parent may want to ask the school about the trend line once multiple years under the current cut scores are available.
Because this is a primary school ending at third grade, there is no graduation rate to consider, and no chronic absenteeism data was reported in the available civil rights records. The data does not include information on special education identification rates or English learner counts, nor does it show staffing ratios or discipline outcomes. The school’s website was not among the data provided, so details on specific programs beyond the core academic offerings are not available here.
The building itself was not identified as a charter or magnet school, and the district brief turned up no recent bond measures, curriculum shifts, or boundary changes that would alter the context for incoming families. For residents looking at this school, the key practical considerations are that it serves the youngest children in the Auburn-Washburn system, feeds into a middle school and high school elsewhere in the district, and operates in a community where housing costs are comparatively moderate. The student body is economically diverse in a way that leans heavily toward lower-income backgrounds, and the academic results at the one tested grade level are below the midpoint for the county, a number that parents will want to track as their child moves up through the grades in the district.
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