The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Science. The lowest is 13% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Rector Johnson Ms
Rector Johnson Middle School serves grades six through eight in Broken Bow, a small rural community in McCurtain County at the edge of Oklahoma’s timber and tourism region. The town’s economy is built around forestry — Pan Pacific and Huber Engineered Woods operate large plants on the west side — and a chicken-processing plant owned by Tyson Industries, with tourism growing fast around Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend State Park. The area has seen industrial investment in recent years, including a major oriented strand board plant that brought hundreds of jobs, and cabin rentals have expanded in the Hochatown area. The housing market in the zip code covering the school shows a median home value that is above the state benchmark, though values have dipped slightly from the prior year.
The middle school is one of four schools in the Broken Bow district, which also includes elementary and high school levels. State assessment data from the most recent testing year shows that the school’s overall proficiency rate across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint compared to other districts in McCurtain County. Digging into the results by subject and grade provides a more detailed picture. In math, proficiency rates were low across all three grades, with the eighth-grade result especially low. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: fewer than one in four students scored at the proficient level in any tested grade, and the share was lowest in eighth grade. Science, which is tested only in eighth grade, told a different story: about half of students reached proficiency, a noticeably stronger result than the math and reading outcomes for that same grade.
Because the state changed its cut scores for math and English language arts in this testing cycle, the results are not directly comparable to prior years, so it is not possible to say whether performance has been trending up or down. A parent looking at these numbers will want to ask the school about the specific supports in place for middle-grades math and reading, as well as how eighth-grade science instruction may differ from the pattern in other subjects.
The school’s enrollment is small for a middle school serving three grade levels, and the student body is diverse. About a third of students are white, a quarter are two or more races, and the remainder includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Black, and Asian students. This is a notably mixed population, and families may want to understand how the school approaches instruction and belonging across these groups. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, receiving special education services, or classified as English learners was not available, so it is not possible to assess the level of economic or additional academic need in the building.
No information was available on course offerings, extracurricular programs, or middle school electives. The district appears not to have recently undergone major changes or strategic initiatives that were publicly reported, so a parent moving to the area may want to visit the school or contact the district office to learn about academic pathways, enrichment, and what a typical day looks like.
Overall, this is a small rural middle school where science proficiency stands out as a relative strength and math and English language arts proficiency are areas the school will need to continue working on. The broader community context is one of an active timber economy and growing tourism, with housing values holding above statewide averages even as the local job base includes both industrial and seasonal work. Families considering Rector Johnson Middle School should weigh the academic performance pattern against the school’s size and the resources of a small district, and seek direct conversation with staff about programming specifically at the middle school level.
See more original research from School Decision →