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What advice would you give to incoming students at Lawrence West Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
648
Middle
DISTRICT 542 · STATE 402
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LAWRENCE·NCES 200840001377
Lawrence West Middle School
2700 Harvard Road, Lawrence, KS 66049 · (785) 832-5500 · Douglas County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL648 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 55% of Kansas public middle schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Kansas public middle schools
Student : Teacher
14.6:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
37%
238 students
DISTRICT 45% · STATE 51%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 208 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 224 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 216 | 33% |
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 58% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
KAP 2024-25 . % Meeting + ExceedingEnglish Language Arts
47.3%
KS avg 44.5%
Math
38.2%
KS avg 38.8%
What this means: On the KAP, Kansas's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Kansas schools, those numbers are about 45 and 39.
KAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 47.3% | 38.2% |
| 2023-24 | 30.5% | 24.2% |
% Meeting + Exceeding, all students and all tested grades. Kansas set new KAP cut scores in spring 2025, so results from 2023-24 and earlier are not comparable with later years.
Source: KAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
37.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.6%
based on KS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% typical for Kansas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Kansas's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Lawrence West Middle School
Lawrence West Middle School's state test result (37.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence West Middle School this school | 648 | 36.7% | 37.9% |
| Lansing Middle 6-8 Lansing | 580 | 35.9% | 39.6% |
| Maize Intermediate School Maize | 651 | 34.9% | 42.7% |
| Indian Woods Middle Overland Park | 809 | 35.0% | 49.0% |
| Maize Middle School Maize | 635 | 33.7% | 34.7% |
| Wheatridge Middle School Gardner | 517 | 42.2% | 36.8% |
Matched among Kansas middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Lawrence West Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Kansas | In Douglas County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.9% | #66 of 192 | #4 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.2% | #88 of 192 | #4 of 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 47.3% | #60 of 192 | #4 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 648 | #40 of 225 | #1 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.6:1 | #132 of 161 | #3 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 53.3% | #69 of 161 | #3 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.7% | #140 of 195 | #4 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.7% | #42 of 54 | N/A |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
648
+24 (+4%) vs 2020
+4% since 1990-91, when it was 622
Student : Teacher
14.6:1
was 13.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 648 | 44.4 | 14.6:1 | 37% (238) |
| 2023-24 | 686 | 38.7 | 17.7:1 | 38% (261) |
| 2022-23 | 609 | 42.8 | 14.2:1 | 43% (262) |
| 2020-21 | 624 | 48 | 13.0:1 | 34% (210) |
| 2017-18 | 631 | 50.1 | 12.6:1 | 35% (222) |
| 2015-16 | 667 | 51 | 13.1:1 | 35% (234) |
| 2010-11 | 548 | 43 | 12.7:1 | 31% (172) |
| 2000-01 | 620 | 45 | 13.8:1 | 24% (150) |
| 1990-91 | 622 | 38 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lawrence West Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (631 to 648); teachers down 11% (50.1 to 44.4).
About Lawrence West Middle School
Lawrence West Middle School is a public middle school run by Lawrence in Lawrence, Kansas. The school counts 648 students across grades 6 through 8. The school's enrollment is 61% bigger than the 402 average for middle schools in Kansas.
Lawrence counts 18 schools and 10,380 students, including Lawrence West Middle School.
White students are the majority at Lawrence West Middle School, with 66% of enrollment. Other groups include 13% multiracial, 11% Hispanic, 6% Black, and 2% Asian. The county population is about 78% White. Lawrence West Middle School's diversity index is 53%, against a US figure of 70%.
A ratio of 14.6:1 comes from the school's 44.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has more students per teacher than the 12.7:1 average for middle schools in Kansas. The lunch program counts 37% of students at Lawrence West Middle School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That tracks the 40% average for public schools in Douglas County.
allk12 grades Lawrence West Middle School a B. The grade compares the school only with Kansas public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Compared with Kansas schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Lawrence West Middle School's results are 6.8 points below predicted: 37.9% against 44.6%.
Lawrence West Middle School is located in Douglas County, where the median household income is $69,746, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 53%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Besides Lawrence West Middle School, Douglas County has 29 other public schools.
The closest other public school is Sunset Hill Elem, about 0.2 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 37.9% is below the 41.3% average for nearby schools.
Locale: City: Small. In NCES terms, the school is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Federal data show a 4% enrollment gain, from 624 in 2020-21 to 648 in 2024-25. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 14.6:1, from 13.0:1.
The Lawrence West Middle School community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Douglas County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
120,302
Census ACS
Median income
$69,746
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
53%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
30
13,766 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Lawrence
- Lawrence Free State HighHigh · 1,774 students
- Lawrence HighHigh · 1,454 students
- Lawrence Southwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 641 students
- Langston Hughes ElemElementary · 560 students
- Lawrence Virtual SchoolCombined · 543 students
- Billy Mills Middle SchoolMiddle · 494 students
Other schools in Lawrence
- Lawrence Free State HighHigh · 1,774 students
- Lawrence HighHigh · 1,454 students
- Lawrence Southwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 641 students
- Langston Hughes ElemElementary · 560 students
- Lawrence Virtual SchoolCombined · 543 students
- Billy Mills Middle SchoolMiddle · 494 students
Nearby schools
- Sunset Hill Elem0.2 mi · 398
- Hillcrest Elem0.5 mi · 393
- Deerfield Elem1.2 mi · 433
- Lawrence Virtual School1.2 mi · 543
- Schwegler Elem1.6 mi · 434
- Lawrence High1.8 mi · 1,454
Frequently asked questions
About Lawrence West Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Lawrence West Middle School?
Lawrence West Middle School enrolls approximately 648 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Lawrence West Middle School serve?
Lawrence West Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Lawrence West Middle School?
Approximately 14.6:1 students per teacher at Lawrence West Middle School.
How diverse is Lawrence West Middle School?
Lawrence West Middle School reports a student body of 66% White, 11% Hispanic, 6% Black, 2% Asian, 13% Two or more.
Is Lawrence West Middle School public or private?
Lawrence West Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Lawrence.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.