The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in Science. The lowest is 13% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Dewey Ms
Dewey Middle School, part of the Dewey School District, serves grades six through eight in a small-city setting in Washington County. The school shares a campus with the district’s elementary and high schools at One Bulldogger Road, physically separate from Dewey’s downtown corridor. The town itself has a stable, modest population and functions largely as a residential community with proximity to Bartlesville for employment and services. Housing in the area is priced below the national and state medians, and the district sits in a housing market that is notably less expensive than much of the country.
With an enrollment of about a few hundred students, the school is a small to mid-sized middle school. The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable share of American Indian or Alaska Native students, followed by smaller populations of students who are two or more races, Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and students with disabilities was not available in the civil-rights data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the share of students receiving economic supports and the special education program.
State testing results from the OSTP assessments for the most recent school year show proficiency rates that are low across the board, though it is important to note that Oklahoma changed its cut scores for math and English language arts in that year, making direct comparisons with prior years impossible. In math, proficiency was below a fifth of students at each tested grade, with a particularly steep drop at eighth grade, where only a very small fraction met the proficient or above bar. In English language arts, proficiency rates were similarly low, hovering around a fifth or less of students at each grade level. Science results for eighth grade were somewhat better, but still below a third of students scoring proficient or above. When placed against other middle schools within Washington County’s six districts, Dewey’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint, meaning it performs neither at the top nor at the bottom among its immediate county peers. That relative position may offer some context, but the absolute numbers remain a soft spot that a family would want to explore further by asking the school about its academic interventions, curriculum, and any recent instructional changes.
The district brief turned up no discrete recent policy, curriculum, tax, or referendum changes that clear the bar of a lasting impact, so the district appears to be operating without major recent disruption or reform. The school’s setting as a small-town middle school with a single feeder pattern means students likely move through with a fairly consistent cohort from elementary onward, which can create a stable peer environment. There is no public data on program offerings such as advanced coursework, arts, athletics, or career exposure at the middle school level, so a parent interested in specific electives or extracurriculars would need to contact the school.
For a family considering Dewey, the realistic picture is of a small district middle school in an affordable community where state test results are weak in absolute terms but mid-range compared to other schools in the county. That combination of a low-cost housing market and a close-knit school setting may appeal to some families, especially those who value a small-town experience and are prepared to supplement school learning at home or look into the school’s specific academic support structures. A parent weighing the school should also consider that the eighth-grade math results are an outlier even within the school’s own pattern, and that the district’s lack of publicly reported recent changes means there is little to go on regarding whether improvement efforts are underway. Asking the school directly about its response to these numbers, its approach to math instruction, and the range of programs it offers would give a clearer sense of whether this is the right fit.
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