The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Math. The lowest is 39% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on George Washington Elementary School
George Washington Elementary School serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Durant, Oklahoma, as part of the Durant Independent School District. The school is located on Gerlach Drive, and the building itself houses a student body that draws from this southern Oklahoma community. Durant is the county seat of Bryan County and the principal city of the Durant Micropolitan Statistical Area, a place shaped by the presence of Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the headquarters of the Choctaw Nation. The local economy rests on tourism, manufacturing, and distribution, and the city has seen rapid population growth and significant new investment in recent years. Housing values in the area sit near the state median, and rents have been rising modestly, reflecting the broader growth pressures the city is experiencing.
The school enrolls a population that is roughly half white, with substantial shares of students who are American Indian or Alaska Native, and students who identify as two or more races. Hispanic students make up a notable share of the building as well. This demographic composition reflects the area’s Native American heritage and its growing diversity. The school serves only early elementary grades, so it does not have a graduation rate to report; that metric applies only to high schools.
On state assessments, patterns across tested subjects and grades show an arc. In third grade, math proficiency was below half and English language arts proficiency was lower, landing around the one-third mark. By fourth grade, both subjects saw meaningfully higher results. Math proficiency moved into the range of about half of students, and English language arts followed a similar upward trajectory, approaching the halfway point. When taken together across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Bryan County. This is a notably strong position in the comparison set, well above the county median. It is worth noting that Oklahoma changed its cut scores for math and English language arts in the testing year, which means these results cannot be directly compared with prior years’ data to determine improvement or decline. A parent looking at this single-year snapshot should be aware that trend information is not available.
The district context reinforces some of what the school’s data suggests. The Durant Independent School District has seen a sustained upward trend in its graduation rate over the last several years, a sign of growing high school completion rates across the system. The district has also received federal funding through the Clean School Bus Rebates program to transition to cleaner transportation. Publicly reported rankings place the district in the top portion of Oklahoma school districts for combined math and reading proficiency, with both subjects above state averages.
This is a school that is performing well relative to its county peers, particularly in fourth grade, where proficiency rates climb into a range that many families would find solid for an elementary school. The third-grade numbers are softer, especially in reading, and parents with children entering that grade may want to look into this further with the school to understand the supports available. The school itself serves a community that is growing economically and demographically, with a mix of university life, tribal government, and industrial expansion that gives Durant a distinct character among Oklahoma towns of similar size. Housing is somewhat more affordable than the national median, and the area’s growth is likely to continue shaping the district’s enrollment and resources in the years ahead.
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