Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet, Wichita KS

Original Research by School Decision on Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet

Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the Wichita public school system. As its name states, the school operates as a dual-language magnet, meaning families choose it for a program that delivers instruction in two languages across the elementary and middle grades. The school sits in the northern part of Wichita, within a district that covers the entire city.

State testing data for the most recent school year shows proficiency rates that fall well below the midpoint when compared with other schools across Sedgwick County districts. In math, the share of students scoring at a proficient level ranged from roughly a fifth to just over two-fifths across tested grades, with most grade levels clustering around a quarter to a third. English language arts results were somewhat higher but still showed that fewer than half of students met the proficiency bar in any grade; the strongest grade hit about two-fifths. Science results, available for two grade levels, were also modest. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in the county’s districts. The state changed its cut scores in recent years, so direct comparisons to earlier years are not possible from this data.

The school serves a student body that is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a much smaller white enrollment and a very small Black enrollment. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding neighborhood. The school does not report data on the share of students with disabilities or English learners, though a dual-language program typically serves many English learners by design. The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade, so it has no graduation rate to report; families looking for high school options after eighth grade would need to consider the district’s high schools separately.

The community context is defined by Wichita itself. Kansas’s largest city, Wichita has a long identity as an aerospace manufacturing hub, with major employers such as Spirit AeroSystems, Textron Aviation, and Bombardier Learjet. The city is car-dependent, with walkable areas limited to the Old Town district and downtown corridor. The housing market in the school’s ZIP code is relatively affordable, with home values below state and national benchmarks and rents that are modest. Housing values have risen modestly over the past year, and rents have increased at a faster pace. The city’s population growth has been modest in recent years, with development focused on downtown revitalization and continued suburban expansion in surrounding communities.

The school itself is part of the Wichita district, which has a large and distributed set of facilities across the city’s neighborhoods. A resident considering Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet would be choosing a specific programmatic pathway rather than a neighborhood assignment. The dual-language focus is the school’s primary distinguishing feature; other program offerings were not available in the data reviewed. Because the school does not serve high school grades, information on advanced coursework, career pathways, or college readiness does not apply here.

For a family seeking a bilingual educational setting in a large urban district with a predominantly Hispanic and low-income student population, Horace Mann offers that specific route. The academic performance data suggests room for improvement in core subjects, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about how its dual-language model interacts with state assessments and what supports are in place. The broader Wichita housing market is affordable compared to many other parts of the country, but the local economy is tied to aerospace cycles, which can affect employment stability. The school’s location within the city means typical urban patterns of car dependence and dispersed amenities.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 20% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 19% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 19% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 18% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 16% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 21% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 36% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 32% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 32% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 24% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 25% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 27% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 25% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 23% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolWichita, 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 4Lower-income31%Higher-income70%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income91%62 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income25%Higher-income64%39 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income24%Higher-income55%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income91%58 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income36%8 pp gap