Sadler Arts Academy, Muskogee OK

Original Research by School Decision on Sadler Arts Academy

Sadler Arts Academy is a public school in Muskogee serving kindergarten through eighth grade. As its name indicates, the school is organized around an arts focus, offering families in the district a thematic choice within the Muskogee school system. The school serves a diverse student body. A large share of students identify as white, followed by those who identify as two or more races. Black students and American Indian or Alaska Native students each make up a meaningful portion of the student population, and Hispanic students are represented as well.

The academic performance data from the most recent state assessments paints a picture of a school where achievement is notably strong in several areas, though a parent will want to be aware of some gaps in the available reporting. In mathematics, the school's proficiency rates were consistently high across the tested grades where data was reported. Results were well above average in the third, fourth, sixth, and eighth grades, and in seventh grade the rate reached a very high level. Only fifth-grade math results were suppressed, so no rate is available for that grade.

In English language arts, the pattern was more mixed. Proficiency rates in the third and fourth grades were lower than the school's math performance, though they aligned closely with the state average. By eighth grade, the ELA proficiency rate was strong. However, results for ELA in fifth, sixth, and seventh grades were all suppressed. This means a parent cannot see a single-year proficiency rate for those grades. The same suppression applies to fifth-grade science. Eighth-grade science, where data was reported, showed a very high proficiency rate.

Overall, if you take the average of all reported proficiency rates across all subjects and grades, Sadler Arts Academy placed in the top quarter of schools and districts in Muskogee County. This is a strong signal that, where the data is available, the school is performing at a high level compared to its neighbors in the county.

For a student entering the school in the lower elementary grades, the available data is clear and shows solid to strong results in both math and reading. For a parent of a student in upper elementary or middle school, the sparser reporting in those years makes a full assessment harder. It is common for state accountability systems to suppress results for small groups, but here the suppression occurs across several entire grade-level cohorts. A parent moving to the area or considering this school should ask the school directly for a more complete picture of student performance in the upper grades.

Muskogee itself is a mid-sized city in eastern Oklahoma with a working-class industrial character. The city has a historic downtown and a diversified economy anchored by a large paper products plant, and it serves as Oklahoma’s first port via the Arkansas River. Very little was found from publicly reported sources about recent changes or initiatives within the Muskogee school district specifically. The district brief turned up nothing of lasting impact, so a family should look into the district’s own communications about its current direction.

The school is not a charter school and is part of the Muskogee district. It only serves through eighth grade, so any family with a child headed to high school would need to plan for a transition to Muskogee High School or another option. The housing market in the area shows home values that are lower than the national and state benchmarks, and rents that are affordable relative to income. The population of the city has seen a modest decline over the past decade but appears to have stabilized.

For a family looking for an arts-themed elementary and middle school within a public school setting, Sadler Arts Academy offers an academic record that is strong where it can be measured, set in a community that is affordable and has a stable, industrial, and historic identity.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 20% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 24% · ▲ 54 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 18% · ▲ 52 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

Grade 790%

School 90% · District 22% · ▲ 68 pts above district

▲ 70 pts above state median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 22% · ▲ 59 pts above district

▲ 68 pts above state median · ▲ 63 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 18% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 20% · ▲ 45 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 25% · ▲ 53 pts above district

▲ 60 pts above state median · ▲ 59 pts above county median

Science

Grade 890%

School 90% · District 28% · ▲ 63 pts above district

▲ 61 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

This schoolMUSKOGEE, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income81%Higher-income89%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income81%Higher-income93%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income79%Higher-income79%0 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income87%Higher-income86%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income76%Higher-income92%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income73%Higher-income100%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income57%Higher-income81%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income81%Higher-income90%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income64%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income83%Higher-income90%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income86%Higher-income96%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income80%Higher-income100%20 pp gap