The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 37% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Pittsburg Middle School
Pittsburg Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Pittsburg public school district, a district that operates within the city of Pittsburg, Kansas. The school is located on North Broadway, a main commercial corridor in a city that grew out of the coal mining era of the late 1800s and is now dominated by the presence of Pittsburg State University. The overall feel of the place is a small city with a young population, shaped by the university, a traditional downtown, and an economy that leans on education, healthcare, and government employment rather than extractive industry. The school itself sits in a built-up part of town, not far from the university campus and the civic center.
The student body of the school is diverse by background. The largest share of students are white, and there are also meaningful populations of Hispanic students, students who identify as two or more races, a smaller number of Black students, and a modest share of Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students. A substantial share of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a common measure of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available from the source.
Academic performance on the Kansas Assessment Program, or KAP, shows that the school has room for growth. In math, the share of students scoring at the proficient level or above was below the majority mark in sixth grade and moved upward in seventh and eighth grades. In English language arts, the pattern was similar, with proficiency rates landing in a range that fell short of a majority in all three grades. In eighth-grade science, the proficiency rate was also below the half mark. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Crawford County, though still below the top performer in the county. A parent looking at these results should be aware that the state made changes to the cut scores for the math and English language arts assessments in the same year these results were reported, which means the proficiency rates are not directly comparable to those from prior years; the data cannot tell you whether the school is getting better or worse over time, just where it stood under the new standards.
The school does not have a high school graduation rate, because it serves only middle grades, so that metric does not apply. No data on chronic absenteeism was available, nor was information on discipline rates, staffing ratios, or course access.
The surrounding housing market is modestly priced relative to state and national benchmarks. Home values in the area have been flat recently, while rents have risen more noticeably. The combination of relatively low home prices and the presence of a major university means that the local housing stock includes both owner-occupied homes in established neighborhoods and rental units that serve the student population.
For a family considering this school, the central picture is one of a mid-sized middle school in a small university city, serving a student population with significant economic diversity, operating with academic results that are mid-range within the county but below levels many families would consider strong. The school sits in a district where no major parent-relevant policy changes, boundary shifts, or program overhauls were publicly reported in the recent period covered by the search. The community itself offers a walkable downtown, a range of parks and trails, and the cultural and sports amenities of a state university, all within a compact geography.
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