The top reported proficiency rate is 15% in Math. The lowest is 13% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Kenwood Public School
Kenwood Public School is a small, rural elementary and middle school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Delaware County, Oklahoma. It is the sole school of the Kenwood district, located near the town of Salina. The student body is overwhelmingly Native American, with a much smaller number of students identifying as two or more races and a single white student. The school is small enough that class sizes are very modest, and it serves the full span from kindergarten through eighth grade, meaning families must arrange for high school elsewhere, either within the Salina Public Schools district that serves much of the area or through another nearby district.
State testing data for the most recent year is limited. Oklahoma administers the OSTP assessment in math, English language arts, and science. At Kenwood, results for many grade levels were suppressed because the number of students tested was too small to report publicly. Where results were reported, proficiency rates were low. In fourth-grade math, about one in six students scored proficient or above. In sixth-grade English, roughly one in six met the bar, and in seventh-grade English, fewer than one in ten did. Science results were suppressed for both the fifth and eighth grades. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages reported rates across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Delaware County. That comparison comes with the caveat that only a few grade-level results contributed to the index; the suppressed data makes it difficult to see a complete picture. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports students who are not yet at grade level and what recent trends look like in the grades where data is available.
The school’s community context is rural and economically modest. Salina is a small town on the eastern shore of Lake Hudson in Mayes County, though the school itself sits in Delaware County. The locale brief describes limited commercial activity, a small town center with a post office, convenience stores, and a few cafes, and a population that has been slowly declining before a slight recent uptick. The largest employers in the area include the Cherokee Nation Health Clinic and a nursing home. Housing values in the zip code are below the national median, consistent with the area’s lower household incomes. The school does not appear to offer any documented programs such as advanced coursework, career pathways, or before- or after-school enrichment; the programs field was absent from the available data. No information on discipline, attendance, or staffing was provided either, so a family would want to inquire directly about those topics.
The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes, such as bond measures, boundary shifts, or program expansions, meaning the school has been operating in a stable, if resource-constrained, environment. Because the school serves only up to eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The absence of high school grades also means that college-readiness metrics like AP or dual credit are not applicable here.
For a family considering Kenwood, the school offers a very small, tight-knit setting where the student body is predominantly Native American, reflecting the area’s population. The academic picture from state tests shows considerable room for growth, and the limited number of students in each grade means that individual attention may be high but also that small fluctuations can have a large impact on reported outcomes. The rural setting offers proximity to Lake Hudson for recreation but very limited commercial or cultural amenities. Parents who want a school that serves only elementary and middle grades and who are comfortable arranging high school transportation will find a straightforward, small-campus environment. Those looking for extensive program offerings, diverse extracurriculars, or strong state-test performance will want to look more closely at what the school can provide in practice.
See more original research from School Decision →