Brookridge Elem, Overland Park KS

Original Research by School Decision on Brookridge Elem

Brookridge Elementary serves a broad pre-kindergarten-through-sixth-grade span in Overland Park, Kansas, as part of the Shawnee Mission Public Schools district. The school sits inside a large, car-dependent suburban city that functions as a major residential and employment hub in the Kansas City metro area. Overland Park’s economy is dominated by health care, retail, professional services, and information technology, with major employers such as T-Mobile and Black & Veatch headquartered there. The city has grown rapidly through decades of greenfield suburban development, and its housing market reflects that demand: home values and rents have been rising, and the area carries a price-to-income ratio that is above the national benchmark, meaning homeownership is a stretch for many households. The school’s enrollment is in the hundreds, with a student body that is majority white, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and a smaller but present Black population. Roughly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that signals a mix of economic backgrounds.

Academically, Brookridge’s state test results on the Kansas Assessment Program show a varied picture across subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, the school’s third-grade and fifth-grade proficiency rates are toward the higher end, while fourth-grade and sixth-grade rates are notably lower. In mathematics, the pattern is similar: third-grade and fifth-grade proficiency rates are in a middle-to-upper range, but the sixth-grade rate drops considerably. Science results, available only for fifth grade, place about half of students at the proficient or above level. When compared against all districts in Johnson County on an overall proficiency index, Brookridge falls below the midpoint of that set. This is a district-level comparison, and the school itself is part of a district that operates a number of elementary schools. There is no graduation rate to report because the school does not serve high school grades, and no chronic absenteeism data is available.

The district, Shawnee Mission, has publicly reported a sustained emphasis on personalized learning plans for every student, a pedagogical approach that is meant to tie each student’s academic program to college and career preparation. The district also runs Signature Programs at a Center for Academic Achievement and a Career Technical Campus, offering pathways in fields such as biotechnology, culinary arts, engineering, animation and game design, medical health sciences, and public safety. These programs are available to high school students across the district and represent a significant investment in specialized career pathways, but they are not directly accessible to Brookridge’s elementary-age students. Families considering this school will likely weigh its academic performance in the middle elementary grades against a noticeable drop in sixth grade, and may want to ask the school directly about what supports are in place for the transition into middle school. The surrounding Overland Park housing market is expensive relative to national norms, and the school’s free-and-reduced lunch rate suggests a degree of economic diversity. The city’s park system and commercial infrastructure are built around suburban car travel, and the school itself is located in a residential part of the city. Testing data from the most recent year uses a state assessment where the proficiency cut scores were changed, which makes comparing results to prior years unreliable.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 53% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 57% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 58% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 58% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 60% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 62% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 63% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 59% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 54% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolShawnee Mission Pub Sch, 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-income45%Higher-income81%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income69%47 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income89%53 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income56%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income40%Higher-income73%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income71%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income68%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income56%27 pp gap