Briarwood Elem, Olathe KS - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Briarwood Elem

Briarwood Elementary is a public PK–5 school in Olathe, Kansas, part of the Olathe school district. It serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a suburban setting within Johnson County. With an enrollment that is modest for its grade band, Briarwood sits in a district that has recently seen both investment and contraction: voters approved a bond to fund a new elementary school and upgrades, while three other elementary schools were closed at the end of the 2024–25 school year due to budget constraints and declining enrollment, redrawing attendance boundaries across the district.

On state assessments administered through the Kansas Assessment Program, Briarwood’s students posted results that vary by grade and subject. In reading and language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was similar across the three tested grades, landing consistently above the midpoint. In mathematics, performance was more uneven, with the youngest tested grade showing a lower proficiency rate than the older two grades, and the oldest grade posting the strongest result of any tested group at the school. In science, which is tested only in fifth grade, the proficiency rate was around the middle of the school’s own subject range. Because the state changed its cut scores for math and reading between testing years, the data cannot be directly compared with prior years, so the trend is unknown. Looking across all tested subjects and grades, Briarwood’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among districts in Johnson County, which includes eight districts and some of the highest-performing systems in the state.

The student body is majority white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students, plus a handful of American Indian and Native Hawaiian students. A substantial share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a mix of economic backgrounds. The school serves a full range of primary grades, with enrollment spread roughly evenly from kindergarten through fifth grade, plus a pre-kindergarten class.

Olathe itself is a large, fast-growing suburb southwest of Kansas City that serves as the county seat. Major employers include Garmin, Olathe Health System, and Farmers Insurance, with a strong commercial and industrial base. The city has grown rapidly in recent years, and housing values reflect both the demand and the region’s affluence: home prices and rents are well above national averages, and the cost of buying a home is significantly higher than renting. The city is auto-oriented, with a network of trails and parks, and its schools are spread across the city rather than concentrated in a downtown core.

For families considering Briarwood, the academic picture is one of solid proficiency compared to the county’s other districts, with the caveat that cut-score changes limit trend comparisons. The school’s economic diversity is modest, and the surrounding housing market is expensive. The district’s boundary adjustments from the recent elementary closures may affect which neighborhoods feed into Briarwood, so a family should confirm the current attendance area if they are house-hunting. State testing data covers the three grades that are tested, and no information was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course access, as these fields were not provided for this school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 61% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 60% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 62% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 60% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 51% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 5 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-income29%Higher-income78%50 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income74%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income79%43 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income72%51 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income59%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income93%56 pp gap