Washington Elem, Olathe KS - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Washington Elem

Washington Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Olathe school district, a large suburban system in Johnson County. The school itself is located on the north side of Olathe, near Ridgeview Road, within a community that has seen steady population growth and commercial expansion. The school is not a charter or magnet, and it operates as a regular public elementary school.

The student body is modest in size for an elementary school, with just over three hundred children enrolled. The composition is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of White students and smaller shares of Black students and students identifying as two or more races. An overwhelming majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a higher-poverty context compared with many others in the district and county. Data on English learner and special education enrollment was not available, so a parent might want to check directly with the school on those supports.

On state assessments, proficiency rates for Washington Elementary are well below the middle of the pack among Johnson County districts. In the most recent testing year, math proficiency ranged from roughly a sixth of third and fifth graders to about a third of fourth graders. English language arts proficiency followed a similar pattern, with fourth grade performing stronger than third and fifth, while fifth grade science proficiency was notably lower. Kansas changed cut scores in math and English language arts for that testing year, so the results are not directly comparable with prior years, and the school’s trend is unclear. When measured against other districts in Johnson County, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quarter. There is no graduation rate to report because the school serves only elementary grades.

Olathe itself is a fast-growing suburban city of considerable size, home to major employers such as Garmin, Honeywell, and Farmers Insurance. The city is auto-oriented, though it maintains a network of trails and parks. Housing values in the area are elevated relative to national averages, and rents have been rising, meaning a significant portion of household income often goes toward shelter. The district recently received voter approval for a bond issue that will fund a new elementary school, security upgrades, and facility maintenance, and the bond is structured so that it will not increase the local mill levy. At the same time, the school board voted to close three other elementary schools in the district due to declining enrollment and budget pressures, redrawing attendance boundaries. Washington Elementary was not among the closures, but the boundary changes may affect which neighborhoods feed into it in the near future.

Overall, Washington Elementary operates in a high-need setting with many students facing economic disadvantage, and its academic results reflect that challenge. Families considering the school should weigh the district’s investments and the school’s own profile, and they may want to ask about specific supports for students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 57% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 61% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 60% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 45 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 61% · ▼ 41 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 62% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 60% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 51 pts below county median

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 51% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 48 pts below county median

This schoolOlathe, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income14%Higher-income46%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income18%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income12%Higher-income55%43 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income12%Higher-income33%21 pp gap