The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in Science. The lowest is 10% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Haywood Public School
Haywood Public School is a small pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school serving a rural area near McAlester in southeastern Oklahoma. It is the only school in the Haywood district, and its enrollment is modest, typical for a single-school district in a lightly populated part of Pittsburg County.
McAlester, the county seat a short drive to the east, functions as a trade and employment hub for the region. The local economy has historically depended on coal mining and railroads, and today major employers include the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, and a state corrections facility. The population has been stable but slightly declining over recent decades, and revitalization efforts focus on the downtown and Old Town areas. Housing values in the area are below state and national benchmarks, and the cost of living is moderate.
The student body at Haywood is predominantly white, with a substantial share of students identifying as two or more races and a smaller but present group of American Indian students. Enrollment is fairly evenly spread across the PK-8 grades, with each grade containing a small number of students. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals was not available, and information on special education and English learner populations is also missing in the data provided.
State testing results are sparse for this school, largely because the number of students tested in each grade is very small. For the most recent testing year, the vast majority of proficiency rates in both math and English language arts were suppressed by the state to protect student privacy. The only reported rate in ELA came from third grade, where a modest share of students scored proficient or above. In science, the eighth-grade rate was similarly low. Because so many results are suppressed, it is difficult to form a clear picture of academic performance across the school. The school’s overall proficiency index, a composite measure of all reported rates, places it in the bottom quartile of districts in Pittsburg County. A parent may want to ask the school for more detail about student achievement and how it has changed over time.
Because Haywood serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school does not offer high school programs such as Advanced Placement, career and technical pathways, or dual-college credit, as those are not applicable at this grade band. No information was available on course access, discipline, or chronic absenteeism. The district brief turned up no recent referendums, curriculum changes, or other notable developments, so it appears to be a stable but information-sparse environment.
For a family, this is a very small rural school where a child would be in a classroom with a handful of peers per grade. The trade-off is that with such a small student population, public data on academic outcomes is limited, and the available numbers suggest performance that is below the typical level in the county. A parent considering Haywood may want to visit, talk with teachers and the principal, and ask about classroom instruction, curriculum materials, and how the school supports students who need extra help. The school’s rural setting means that many local amenities and employment centers are in McAlester itself, but the school and community are likely closely connected for those who live in the Haywood attendance area.
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