The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in Science. The lowest is 18% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Central Es
Central Elementary in Warr Acres serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Putnam City district. It is a public elementary school in a northwest suburb of Oklahoma City, a community that grew from post-World War II housing additions and still carries a small-town feel. The city is laid out along major highways and commercial corridors, and schools here are placed within the residential fabric rather than on isolated campuses; Central Elementary sits near the district administration and other Putnam City schools.
The student body reflects the diversity of the area. Enrollment is made up of a majority who identify as Hispanic, with smaller shares of white students, Black students, students of two or more races, and a handful of American Indian or Alaska Native and Asian students. Information on the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals was not available in the data we looked at, nor were counts of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school about those support structures directly.
Academic performance on Oklahoma’s state assessments, the OSTP, is available for grades three through five. In math, proficiency rates across those grades were modest, with the highest in fifth grade and lower in third and fourth grades. In English language arts, the pattern was similar, with proficiency in the lower end of the range. Fifth graders also took science, and about a fifth of students met the proficiency benchmark. These are absolute results that sit below the state average in a typical year, but the school’s relative position within Oklahoma County tells a more nuanced story. When compared across all county districts, Central Elementary’s overall proficiency index—calculated as the average of all tested subjects and grades—places it above the midpoint among its peers. That means the school does not test at the top of the county, but its students perform better than many other elementary schools in the same region, even if the raw numbers are low. A parent should note that Oklahoma changed its cut scores for math and English language arts in 2024-25, so the proficiency results reported here may not be directly comparable to prior years; the trend status is unknown.
Because Central Elementary serves only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not included in the data we examined. The school is part of Putnam City Schools, which passed a historically large bond package in 2024—the largest in the district’s history. That bond, publicly reported by the district, is funding safety improvements, classroom technology, transportation upgrades, and facility work across all schools, including Central Elementary. This represents a substantial investment in the physical and operational resources of the school, something a resident or parent would want to weigh as they consider the learning environment.
Housing in the area around the school is at a level that is somewhat below the state median home value, and rents have been rising modestly. The national economic context shows mortgage rates near a six-and-a-half percent range and a national unemployment rate just above four percent, which gives a general sense of the affordability climate. The suburb itself is car-oriented, with shopping districts and highway access; it is not a walkable downtown but remains closely tied to Oklahoma City.
Central Elementary is a school where a family will find a diverse, majority-Hispanic student body in a settled suburban setting. Its state test results are low in absolute terms, but the school holds a position above the middle of the pack among Oklahoma County elementary schools. The recent district bond signals a commitment to upgrading facilities and resources, which may be a positive sign for future improvement. A parent looking at this school will want to learn more about the specific support programs, English learner services, and special education offerings, since those data points were not present here.
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