The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Math. The lowest is 36% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Blackwell Es
Blackwell ES serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Blackwell Public Schools district, a small-city school system in Kay County near the Kansas border. The school sits in a town whose economy mixes agriculture, fossil-fuel-related industry, and a rail-served industrial park, with a historic downtown and a population that has been relatively stable. Homes in the area are priced well below state and national medians, and the local housing market has seen a slight softening recently, which means families moving in may find affordable options. The district itself has not had any major publicly reported changes in recent years, so what you see is largely what the system has been.
The student body of roughly medium size for an elementary school is majority white, with a sizable Hispanic population and a similar-sized group of students who identify as two or more races. There is also a notable American Indian or Alaska Native presence. This composition gives the school a degree of diversity that stands out for a small plains community. Data on economic disadvantage was not available, and the same is true for special education and English learner counts, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about those supports.
On state assessments in the 2024-25 school year, Blackwell ES posted results that, when averaged across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the top quarter among districts in Kay County. That is a solid standing. Looking at the grade-level detail, third graders achieved proficiency at a rate that was higher than the county median, and fourth graders were close behind. Fifth graders, however, showed a sharp drop in both math and English language arts, with proficiency rates that fell well below the third- and fourth-grade levels. Science results for fifth grade were withheld from reporting, so no conclusion can be drawn there. The pattern of a decline in fifth grade is worth noting; a parent may want to discuss with the school how it supports students as they approach the transition to middle school.
Because Blackwell ES is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, and there are no advanced course or career pathway data to report. That is not a weakness, simply a function of the grade band. The school environment and staffing data were also not available, so things like class sizes, teacher experience, and discipline rates are not part of this picture. The same applies to chronic absenteeism and other civil-rights-related measures.
The school is a traditional public elementary, not a charter or magnet, and its Title I status was not reported. The curriculum follows Oklahoma's state standards, and students take the OSTP assessments in grades three through five. The school building is located on West Ferguson Avenue in the south part of town, within a few blocks of the Chikaskia River and near several of the city's parks.
For a family considering Blackwell, this school offers a reasonably strong early elementary experience relative to the county, with a noticeable drop-off by fifth grade that bears investigation. The town itself provides a quiet, low-cost living environment with basic amenities and some cultural anchors like the historical museum and the county fair. The industrial park and the ongoing environmental remediation of the former zinc smelter site are part of the local context, though they are not directly school issues. The district has not been undergoing visible upheaval, which some parents will see as a stable backdrop. Whether this school fits depends on how much weight you put on the early grades' relative strength versus the later grade's weaker numbers, and whether the town's small scale and modest housing market match what you are looking for.
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