The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in English language arts. The lowest is 56% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Maize Central Elementary
Maize Central Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in the Maize district, a fast-growing suburban district northwest of Wichita. It is one of several elementary schools feeding into a larger system that includes intermediate, middle, and high school levels. The school sits on the older end of Maize’s expanding footprint, at the corner of West Academy Avenue and North Maize Road, within a few blocks of the city’s original downtown core.
The building enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races, Asian, Black, or American Indian. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that positions the school near the district's overall economic profile. The school does not publicly report the share of students with individualized education programs or English learner designations, so a family with a child in either category would want to ask the school directly about those services.
On the 2024-25 Kansas state assessments, Maize Central posted results that put its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades in the top quartile among Sedgwick County districts. The proficiency rates are solid. In English language arts, roughly three-fifths of third graders and nearly two-thirds of fourth graders scored proficient or above. In math, roughly three-fifths of third graders and somewhat more than half of fourth graders did the same. The only science result available comes from the 2020-21 school year, when about three-fifths of fifth graders scored proficient; that data point is older and from a disrupted year, so a parent may view it cautiously. Kansas changed its cut scores between that year and the current assessment, making direct trend comparisons unreliable, but the most recent results in reading and math paint a stable picture of a school where most students are meeting the state's bar and where performance is above average for the county.
The school serves only early elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate, no college-going data, and no course access metrics. The academic story is limited to the primary grades only. A family moving into Maize Central’s attendance zone would need to look at the intermediate, middle, and high schools in the district to understand the full K-12 pathway.
Maize itself is a northwestern suburb of Wichita that has grown rapidly as the metro area has pushed outward. The city’s population has risen sharply over the past two decades and is continuing to climb, with the city expanding water and sewer infrastructure to keep up. The housing market reflects that growth; home values in the zip code have climbed steadily. The neighborhood around the school is a mix of older single-family homes and newer subdivisions. The built environment is car-oriented; K-96 Highway runs through the city, and most errands require a drive. The major employers in town are a mix of manufacturing firms—Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, Worthington Industries, and others—along with the school district itself. Median household income in Maize is well above the Kansas average, which aligns with the relatively low free-lunch rate at the school.
The district, Maize USD, passed a bond that funded new intermediate schools and a performing arts and aquatics center that opened in 2022. It also adopted a strategic plan running through 2028 focused on culture, staffing, academic improvement, and facility growth. These moves signal that the district is managing for growth and investing in capacity, which matters for a family considering whether the elementary school they start in will feed into overcrowded or well-resourced upper schools.
Maize Central Elementary is a solid, above-average primary school serving a growing suburban community. Its test results are strong relative to other schools in Sedgwick County, its student body is economically mixed but predominantly middle-income, and its district is actively building and planning for expansion. The main limitation is that the school’s data covers only the early grades; a family needs to research the rest of the feeder pattern to get a full picture. For a family looking for a stable elementary school in a growing northwest Wichita suburb with a district that is investing in new facilities, Maize Central is a credible option worth exploring.
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