The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 42% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Conway Springs Kyle Trueblood
Conway Springs Kyle Trueblood serves the youngest learners in the Conway Springs district, from prekindergarten through fifth grade. The school sits in the heart of a small, historic farming community in Sumner County, Kansas, a town built around its mineral springs and anchored by Central Park. The district has no recent major changes publicly reported that would alter a family’s experience, so a parent can expect a stable, traditional elementary setting.
The student body is small and overwhelmingly White, with a small share of students identifying as two or more races and a very small Hispanic population. About two of every five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that signals a moderate level of economic need within the school.
State assessment results from the 2024-25 school year give a mixed picture of academic performance. In third-grade English language arts, just over half of students scored proficient or above. That share dropped to less than half in fourth grade and rose to well over half in fifth grade. In mathematics, the pattern was more jagged. Third-grade proficiency stood at roughly one-third of students. Fourth-grade performance fell to a lower level, with a small share reaching proficiency. Fifth-grade math was a bright spot, with three-quarters of students testing proficient or above. In fifth-grade science, proficiency reached a solid level, above the midpoint. Because Kansas changed its cutoff scores for these tests, the state advises against comparing this year’s results with prior years, so a parent cannot tell whether these numbers represent an improvement or a decline.
Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the top quartile among districts in Sumner County. That is a strong position relative to the county, but the within-school variation is wide enough that a parent will want to ask about supports for the grades where performance dips. The fourth-grade numbers in particular stand out as an area to explore with the school.
Because the school only serves elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism or discipline was available. The school does not appear to be identified for Title I support, and no information on staffing ratios or course access was provided.
Conway Springs itself is a very small, tight-knit town. Housing values here are well below the Kansas state median and even further below the national median. The town has seen essentially flat population growth for years, and home values rose at a moderate pace recently. The typical commute is short and almost all residents drive alone; there is no public transit and walkability is limited to the compact downtown and park area. The largest employment sector is manufacturing, followed by educational services, which the district itself accounts for.
A parent considering this school should weigh its strong overall county ranking against the uneven grade-level results. The school’s small size and rural setting mean a child will go through the elementary years with a consistent cohort. A parent whose child struggles in fourth grade will want to understand the school’s approach to intervention. The absence of data on special education and English learner populations means those families would need to gather that information directly from the district. For a family looking for a stable, small-town elementary school with a solid county-wide standing, this is a reasonable fit, but the soft spots in the testing data merit a conversation with the principal.
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