Park Elem

Park Elem is one of the reasonably sized elementary schools in Great Bend, Kansas, one of the schools within Great Bend, with 304 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 6.

Great Bend comprises 7 schools with combined enrollment of 2,876 students; Park Elem is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Park Elem lists that the most-represented group is White (48%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 45% Hispanic, 3% multiracial, 2% Black. The wider county runs roughly 81% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.5:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.2:1 average. An estimated 73% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is above Barton County's rate of about 62%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Park Elem tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 27.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 29.0%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Barton County indicate median household earnings sit near $58,851, 22% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Barton County's 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,179 students), Park Elem is one campus in the mix.

Great Bend High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around Park Elem. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Park Elem ranks 4th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 34.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Park Elem has climbed 13%, going from 270 students in 2018 to 304 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.