The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Math. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on South Side Elementary
South Side Elementary sits on Howell Avenue in Worland, the county seat of Washakie County and a regional commercial hub for Wyoming's Big Horn Basin. It is one of three elementary schools in Washakie County School District #1, serving only second and third graders. That narrow grade band shapes nearly everything about how a family should read this school. There is no kindergarten or first-grade foundation here, no upper-elementary transition, and no middle or high school continuation on this campus. South Side is a two-year stop along a longer pathway through the district, and a family arriving here is really choosing the district's elementary sequence, not a standalone school.
Academically, the only state testing data available comes from third grade, since second graders are not yet assessed under Wyoming's WY-TOPP system. In math, a clear majority of third graders reached proficiency. In English language arts, just over half did. Both figures reflect full participation among tested students. The school's overall proficiency index, which combines these tested subjects, sits in the lower range relative to districts in Washakie County. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, though it is worth keeping in mind that this comparison places a two-grade elementary school against district-wide figures that include older students and broader grade bands, so the gap may look different at the student level than it does in this aggregate view. Multi-year trend data was not available, so there is no way to tell from the provided information whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining.
The student body is small for its grade band, with a notable split between the two grades. Demographically, the school is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic share and a very small representation of other racial or ethnic groups. Nearly half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a moderate range for economic need. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported, so those dimensions of student support cannot be assessed from what was provided.
No graduation rate, chronic absenteeism figure, discipline data, course-access information, or staffing detail was available. The first two do not apply to a school serving only grades two and three. The others were simply missing from the payload, and rather than guess at them, the honest thing is to name the gaps.
Worland itself is a small, quiet city with a rural pace of life. Its economy runs on agriculture, primarily sugar beets and malt barley, along with oil and gas extraction and manufacturing. Major employers include Admiral Beverage Corporation, Wyoming Sugar Company, Crown Cork & Seal, and the local Molson Coors operation. The downtown core along Big Horn Avenue holds local shops, restaurants, banks, and the county courthouse. Schools are spread across residential neighborhoods rather than clustered downtown, with the elementary buildings distributed by direction. A paved greenway trail follows the Big Horn River along the city's western edge, and the parks department maintains several city parks and a swimming pool complex. Transit options are limited to a senior-center demand-response service and intercity bus lines. The city's population declined over the past couple of decades but has shown modest recovery recently, with most newer construction happening on the southern outskirts near US Route 20.
The housing market in South Side's zip code is affordable by both state and national standards. Typical home values sit well below the Wyoming state benchmark and further below the national one, and the price-to-income ratio is moderate. Rent data was not available for this area. Recent home value growth has been solid, outpacing both the state and national rates, though no large-scale housing developments are underway.
A family considering South Side is really weighing Washakie County School District #1's elementary model. The school offers a focused two-year window with solid full-participation testing results, a math proficiency rate above the halfway mark, and an economically diverse student community. The proficiency comparison against county districts comes back in the lower range, and several key data points about student support services were not available. Those are the questions worth bringing directly to the district.
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