The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Math. The lowest is 46% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Arapaho-butler Es
Arapaho-Butler Es serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in the small town of Arapaho, Oklahoma, the county seat of Custer County. The school is part of the Arapaho-Butler district, which combines the town's students with those from the nearby community of Butler. The school's campus sits on north 12th Avenue, separated from the downtown core where the county courthouse and a municipal library serve as civic anchors. The town has a very small footprint and functions as a trade center for the surrounding agricultural area, with education, health and social services, and public administration being the primary employment sectors. The population has historically fluctuated and, according to recent estimates, is currently in a period of decline.
The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Black. The school's enrollment spans a wide age range, with relatively even class sizes from kindergarten through eighth grade. The school is not a charter school, and data on Title I status, the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, special education enrollment, and English learner status were not available. A parent or resident looking into these dimensions may want to seek further information directly from the school.
State testing data from the most recent school year shows a mixed picture of academic performance. The school participates in Oklahoma's state assessment, though Oklahoma has recently changed its cut scores for math and English language arts, which means comparisons to prior years are not straightforward. In math, proficiency rates varied by grade. Among third graders, a majority of students scored at the proficient level or above. Fifth grade math proficiency was also solid, with just over half of students meeting the bar. By seventh and eighth grade, math proficiency was lower, with roughly a third of students in each of those grades scoring at that level. Results for fourth and sixth grade math were suppressed and not reported.
In English language arts, fifth graders again showed a rate where a little over half of students were proficient. Seventh grade ELA was similar, with just over half of students meeting the standard. Eighth grade ELA was lower, with about a third of students proficient. Results for third, fourth, and sixth grade ELA were suppressed. Science results for both fifth and eighth grades were also suppressed. When viewed across the tested subjects and grades that did have reported results, the school's overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among the four districts in Custer County. This is a strong showing compared to its immediate neighbors, though the cohort is small and the measure relies only on data that was reportable.
Because the school serves only up to eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. The school functions as a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade campus, after which students would move on to a high school setting, likely elsewhere in the Arapaho-Butler system. The district brief turned up no recent major changes such as bond elections or curriculum overhauls, consistent with the profile of a small rural district where such activity is less frequent. Housing values in the area are notably below both the state and national benchmarks, making homeownership relatively accessible, though the local market is small. Arapaho's character as a quiet county seat with a declining population means families moving here are likely choosing a rural, small-town setting with limited commercial activity and a school that, while small, has shown strength in its early and middle-grade testing relative to neighboring districts.
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