The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in Math. The lowest is 46% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Wayside Es
Wayside Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and is part of the Bartlesville Public Schools district. The school is located on the east side of the city, a mid-sized community that functions as a regional hub in northeast Oklahoma. Bartlesville blends its heritage as the birthplace of Phillips Petroleum with cultural institutions like the Price Tower, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Woolaroc museum and wildlife preserve. The local economy remains heavily shaped by the energy sector, with Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips maintaining a significant presence. The city has seen modest population growth and recent industrial development, including a lithium-ion battery recycling plant in the Bartlesville Industrial Park. The Caney River runs through town, and the Pathfinder Parkway provides a paved trail system for walking and cycling.
Wayside is one of six elementary schools in the district. The school serves a sizable student body for an elementary building. In terms of demographics, the student population is predominantly white, with notable shares of students identifying as two or more races, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native. Smaller shares of Asian and Black students are also represented. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available in the dataset, leaving a gap for parents who weigh those factors.
On state assessments administered through the Oklahoma School Testing Program, students in the tested grades of three, four, and five show a pattern where math proficiency is strongest in the earlier grades and drops by fifth grade. In third grade, math results reached a level where a majority of students scored proficient or above. Fourth-grade math followed a similar pattern. By fifth grade, math proficiency was lower, with fewer than half of students meeting the bar. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency was just below the halfway mark. Fourth-grade English language arts results were suppressed in the data, so no figure is available. Fifth-grade English language arts proficiency was below half. Fifth-grade science proficiency was slightly below the English language arts figure for that grade. Overall, the school's proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Washington County, meaning it performs above the midpoint of that local comparison group. Parents should be aware that Oklahoma changed its cut scores for English language arts and math between school years, so direct comparisons with results from prior years are not possible.
Because Wayside serves only elementary grades, it does not have a graduation rate to report; that metric applies only to high schools.
The Bartlesville district passed a bond issue in early 2022 that funded facility upgrades, technology, transportation, and classroom resources across the district. As part of ongoing capital improvements, the district opened a new facility at Madison Middle School and completed additions and renovations at Central Middle School. These projects changed the physical learning environment for middle school students who will eventually feed from elementary schools like Wayside.
The typical single-family home value in the area around the school is close to the statewide benchmark and below the national average. Rents are moderate relative to incomes, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment after a standard down payment is lower than the national typical rent figure, which may matter for families weighing home-buying versus renting in the Bartlesville market. The national unemployment rate has been steady, and the broader economic context of the region is shaped by the energy industry presence.
For a family considering Wayside, the picture is one of an elementary school that serves a large student population in a mid-sized city with a strong energy-sector economy. Academic performance is strongest in early elementary math, with a noticeable drop-off by fifth grade in both math and reading. The school performs well relative to other districts in the county, but the absolute proficiency rates in the upper elementary grades are areas where a parent may want to ask the school about its instructional strategies and support for students as they approach middle school.
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