The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Community Elementary
Community Elementary is a pre-kindergarten through sixth grade building that operates within the Coffeyville school district in southeastern Kansas. Serving students from early childhood through the end of elementary school, the school is a large one for its grade band. It draws from a small industrial city that has experienced a long-term population decline and a high housing vacancy rate, with a local economy anchored by a refinery, a John Deere transmission plant, and other manufacturing facilities. The context for families is a community with a deep industrial heritage and a modest economic base.
The student body is diverse. White students make up the largest share, followed by a substantial Hispanic population and a notable number of students who identify as two or more races. Black and American Indian or Alaska Native students also attend, while Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students are enrolled in very small numbers or not at all. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a reflection of the community’s low median household income and elevated poverty rate. Data on the share of students with individualized education programs or who are classified as English learners was not available.
On state assessments administered through the Kansas Assessment Program, results show a range of performance across subjects and grades. In English language arts, the school’s strongest subject, proficiency rates in grades three, five, and four all fell at different levels, with grade three showing the highest share of students scoring proficient or above and grade six showing the lowest. In mathematics, proficiency rates across grades three through six were lower across the board, with grade four and grade six posting the weakest results. Science is tested only in grade five, and that cohort’s proficiency rate sat between the math and English language arts figures for that grade. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grade levels, placed below the midpoint among districts in Montgomery County.
A parent should be aware that the state changed its cut scores for the math and English language arts assessments during the period these results cover. Kansas raised the bar for what counts as proficient, which means the current figures may look lower than previous years not because students know less but because the standard moved. This makes direct comparisons to earlier school years unreliable.
Because Community Elementary serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report for this building. Similarly, data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, and course access were not available in the materials reviewed.
The district itself is the Coffeyville school system. A search for recent parent-relevant changes—such as boundary adjustments, program launches, or facility plans—did not turn up information that could be confirmed from available sources, so the narrative reflects only the current conditions of the school and its community.
For a family considering Community Elementary, the takeaway is a school that serves a high-poverty, economically challenged community, where a large share of students qualify for meal assistance and where state test results are mixed. English language arts is the relative strength, while math proficiency is an area where many students are not meeting the state’s raised standards. The school is large for an elementary, which means class sections and building resources are scaled accordingly. The surrounding city has faced industrial job losses and a major flood in recent years, with ongoing environmental recovery in parts of town. Housing is very affordable relative to national benchmarks, but the local economy and population base are not growing.
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