The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Science. The lowest is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Stafford Middle School/high School
Stafford Middle School/High School serves students from sixth through twelfth grade in a single building along Broadway in the town of Stafford, Kansas. The school is the only secondary option within Stafford USD and draws from a small rural community on the eastern edge of Stafford County, roughly a two-hour drive northwest of Wichita. The town itself has a compact footprint, with civic and school functions located along the same main thoroughfare, and the county economy is built around agriculture, oil, and utilities. The district operates two schools total, and a parent searching for recent changes or initiatives from the district found little publicly reported, so the picture here comes from what the school itself shows in its data.
The student body is small. The school reported an enrollment of just over a hundred students for the data year, spread across seventh grades from sixth through twelfth. Each grade-level group is small, with the largest being sixth grade. The student population is predominantly white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a context where economic need is common. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, so it is not possible to say how large those populations are.
The school participates in Kansas state testing through the Kansas Assessment Program. In math, proficiency rates across the middle school grades were reported but varied: rates in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade each fell in a range where a parent would want to understand how individual students are progressing. In English language arts, proficiency rates were reported across those same grades. The eighth-grade science assessment showed a rate that was higher than the math and English results for that grade. Because the state changed cut scores for math and English language arts that year, comparison to prior years is not reliable. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages across all tested subjects and grades, placed it above the midpoint among the handful of districts in Stafford County. The county has only a few districts, so the comparison is narrow.
Because the school includes high school grades, a graduation rate would normally be expected, but one was not reported in the available data. A parent may want to ask the school directly about on-time graduation rates and postsecondary plans for seniors. Information on chronic absenteeism was also missing. The school did not report civil rights data such as discipline rates or course access patterns, so it is not possible to assess whether all students have equal access to advanced coursework or whether discipline is applied evenly.
The school’s website and program data did not list specific advanced placement, dual-credit, or career and technical education pathways. In a small rural school, a parent may want to ask what opportunities exist for students to earn college credit or gain career exposure before graduation, and how the school partners with nearby institutions to offer those options.
Housing in Stafford is notably affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. The typical home value in the area is well below the Kansas median, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home is modest. Rents are also low relative to the national trend. The town has experienced long-term population decline over several decades, and vacancy rates are high. The housing market reflects a community that is stable but shrinking, not growing.
For a family considering this school, the context is that of a small, rural, economically mixed community where the school is the single secondary campus in town, housed in a compact civic core. Academic performance in testing falls in a middle range relative to nearby districts, but the small cohort sizes mean that a few students can shift the numbers significantly. The absence of reported graduation data, program offerings, and civil rights metrics leaves gaps that a parent would need to fill by speaking directly with the school or the district office.
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