Swaney Elem

Swaney Elem, an average-sized primary school in Derby, Kansas, part of Derby, instructs 351 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

Across the 13 schools in Derby (7,416 students total), Swaney Elem accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Swaney Elem lists that the largest single group is White, at 69% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school lists 17% Hispanic, 11% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Sedgwick County as a whole.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.3:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.2:1 average. An estimated 61% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, Swaney Elem tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 33.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 47.3%.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Sedgwick County indicate median household earnings sit near $69,365, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Swaney Elem is one of 160 public schools in Sedgwick County (combined enrollment of about 84,569 students).

Nearest neighbor: Derby Middle Sch, around 0.8 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Swaney Elem comes 4th of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 40.4%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Swaney Elem has ticked down 20%, going from 439 students in 2018 to 351 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 76% to 69% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 16.2:1 in 2018 to 11.3:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.