The top reported proficiency rate is 13% in English language arts. The lowest is 8% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Rush Springs Ms
Rush Springs Middle School serves grades six through eight in a small, rural town in Grady County, Oklahoma. The school is part of the Rush Springs district, which operates within a community that has long been defined by agriculture, ranching, and oil and gas work. The town itself is very small, with a main strip, a historic museum, and an annual watermelon festival that draws visitors each August. Residential life is quiet and low-density. The population has seen a long-term decline followed by a modest recent increase, and housing values are below state and national benchmarks. For families considering a move here, the context is a tight-knit rural setting with limited commercial bustle outside of festival season.
The middle school enrolls a small number of students, with roughly even numbers across grades six, seven, and eight. The student body is predominantly white, while a substantial share of students are American Indian or Alaska Native. There are also small numbers of students identifying as Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial. Information on free and reduced-price lunch participation, special education, and English learner status was not available in the data, so a family would want to ask the school directly about the supports it offers for students with diverse needs.
State testing results from the most recent year show that proficiency rates in both math and English language arts are low across all three tested grades. In math, the share of students scoring at the proficient or above level is in the single digits in grade six and grade eight, and slightly higher in grade seven. In English language arts, grade six and grade eight are higher than grade seven, but all remain below the state average range. Science results for grade eight were suppressed, so no public figure is available. The school’s overall proficiency index — a combined measure across tested subjects and grades — places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Grady County. This is a clear soft spot, and a parent may want to look into what academic interventions or supports the school offers and how it tracks student growth over time.
Because Rush Springs Middle School only serves grades six through eight, it does not have a graduation rate or data on chronic absenteeism. There is also no information available on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, or attendance patterns. The district brief turned up no recent changes of the kind that would appear in local news, such as bond measures, construction projects, or curriculum shifts. For families, this means the school’s academic profile is the primary visible indicator, and that profile shows a need for improvement.
The community itself is affordable by national standards, with home values that stretch further than in many parts of the country. The local unemployment rate and median household income sit close to national averages. For a family that values small-town life and is willing to engage closely with the school to support their child’s learning, Rush Springs Middle School offers a contained, small-scale environment. But the academic data suggests that students here are not reaching grade-level benchmarks at the rates seen in many other Grady County districts, and that is the central fact any parent considering this school should weigh.
See more original research from School Decision →