Washington Elem

Set in McPherson, Kansas, Washington Elem is a small primary school, run under McPherson. It instructs 256 students across grades pre-K through 5.

McPherson comprises 6 schools with combined enrollment of 2,117 students; Washington Elem is among them.

On demographics, Washington Elem lists that White students make up the majority at 73%; the rest looks like 20% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 92%.

Looking at school resources, Washington Elem records 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 11.4:1. The state averages around 13.2:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 55% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against McPherson County (around 40%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Washington Elem performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 35.8%, the actual is 47.9%, a residual of +12.1 points.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for McPherson County indicate median household earnings sit near $78,851, about 34% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. In all, McPherson County runs 18 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,829 students), of which Washington Elem is one.

The closest other public school is McPherson Middle School, roughly 0.2 miles away. 5 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Washington Elem comes 2nd of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 36.8%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Looking at the recent track record. Washington Elem's enrollment has decreased 12% since 2018, when it stood at 290 (now 256). The Hispanic share of enrollment edged up from 15% to 20% over that span. Class-load math has fell: from 15.0:1 in 2018 to 11.4:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Washington Elem community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.