The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in Math. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Great Bend Middle School
Great Bend Middle School serves seventh and eighth graders as part of Great Bend USD 428, the public school district for the city of Great Bend, the county seat of Barton County in central Kansas. Great Bend is a regional commercial and government center that has experienced a modest population decline over recent decades, though it retains its role as a hub for the surrounding agricultural area. Major employers include the regional hospital, county government, Barton Community College just outside town, and historically the Fuller Brush Company. The city offers a traditional downtown centered on the courthouse, a zoo and raptor center, and dial-a-ride transit, with a low-rise, car-oriented built environment.
The school itself serves just over four hundred students, making it a mid-sized middle school for the grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of students who are two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, or Asian. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community with significant economic need. The district brief turned up no recent notable changes or initiatives for a parent to track.
State assessment results are available from the Kansas Assessment Program, though the state changed its cut scores in recent years, making year-to-year trend comparisons unreliable. In both seventh and eighth grade math, roughly a quarter to a third of students scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, the share was similar, around a third for both grades. Eighth grade science results showed just over a quarter of students meeting proficiency. When placed against other districts in Barton County, the school's overall proficiency index falls in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to ask the school what academic supports are in place and how the school is addressing these attainment levels.
Discipline data, staffing details, chronic absenteeism rates, and course access information were not available in the data provided, so a complete picture of school climate and student support is incomplete. A parent may want to follow up with the school directly on these topics.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the data did not include information on special education or English learner populations. The housing market in the area is affordable relative to national benchmarks, with home values well below the Kansas median and rents that make up a modest share of area income. The economic context shows stable, low unemployment nationally at the time of the data.
Great Bend Middle School sits within a district that operates eight schools spread across the city rather than on a single campus. The middle school itself is the only one serving grades seven and eight in the district, so students feed into Great Bend High School after eighth grade. For families considering this school, the key realities are a student body with high economic need, assessment results that are notably low relative to county peers, and a community that is stable but slowly shrinking in population rather than growing. There is no available information on whether the school offers special programs, advanced coursework, or enrichment opportunities, which is a gap a family would want to fill through a visit or phone call.
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