Middle Schools in Goddard

Goddard has four schools labeled middle schools—two serving grades 5–6 and two serving grades 6–8—and the 2025–26 four-school averages were above Kansas in ELA, math, and science: 51% versus 46%, 44% versus 41%, and 46% versus 38%. Those averages hide a substantial difference between schools: Discovery Intermediate School led and Goddard Middle School trailed in all three subjects, with gaps of 17 points in ELA, 20 in math, and 20 in science.

Discovery Intermediate School was the clear all-grade leader, with 58% proficiency in ELA, 53% in math, and 53% in science; Goddard Middle School recorded 41%, 33%, and 33%, respectively. Discovery was 12–15 points above the state in those subjects, while Goddard was 5–8 points below. Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School ranked second in the all-grade results, and Challenger Intermediate School was between the top and bottom schools. Grade-level results add an important exception: Challenger’s sixth-grade math proficiency was 50%, above Discovery’s 47% and the state’s 41%.

From 2024–25 to 2025–26, the four-school average rose by 3 percentage points in ELA and 3 in math, while science fell by 4 points; all four schools improved in ELA, but science declined at each. SchoolDigger rankings moved from 66 of 362 to 61 of 368 for Eisenhower, while Goddard Middle moved from 185 of 362 to 220 of 368. Attendance also differed: chronic absenteeism was 6% at Discovery and 22% at Goddard Middle, compared with 18% statewide. Context figures do not point to a simple score pattern: Goddard Middle had the lowest reported student–teacher ratio, 14.3, and highest free/reduced-lunch rate, 35%, while Discovery had a ratio of 16.3 and a lunch rate of 26%.