Unified School District #259, or Wichita Public Schools, is the state's largest elementary and secondary public education system. It is administered by a nonpartisan, seven-member board elected to four-year staggered terms. Board members contract a superintendent.
In 2000 a five-year, $285 million bond issue was implemented to improve all of the district's existing schools and to construct new facilities. Stucky Middle School, the first new middle school in 37 years, opened its doors in 2003, and the Jackson Elementary School opened the following year. All other bond projects are scheduled for completion by the end of 2005.
The following is a summary of data regarding Wichita public schools as of the 2004–2005 school year.
Total enrollment: 48,818
Number of facilities elementary schools: 57 (19 are magnet schools)
middle schools: 17 (5 magnet schools)
senior high schools: 11 (1 magnet school)
special schools: 14, including special education centers, early childhood education centers, a boys' ranch, an e-school, and other specialties
Student/teacher ratio: 16:1
Teacher salaries
minimum: $30,240
maximum: $46,534
Funding per pupil: $3,863
Wichita offers alternatives to the public school system through a strong parochial school system of approximately three dozen private schools ranging from preschool to high school. The majority of private schools are parochial. Nearly 10,400 students attend facilities of the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Wichita, which has won numerous national awards from the National Catholic Educational Association. Non-denominational education is offered by Wichita Collegiate School, which offers a college-preparatory curriculum, and the Independent School, which provides the liberal arts education usually reserved for gifted students to average and above-average students.
Public Schools Information: Wichita Public Schools, 201 N. Water, Wichita, KS 67202; telephone (316)973-4000; email info@usd259.net
Wichita State University is a four-year college with about 15,000 students. Six undergraduate colleges (arts and sciences, engineering, fine arts, education, business, and health professions) offer 60 degree programs in more than 200 areas of study. The graduate school offers 44 masters degrees, 10 doctoral programs, and three specialist degree programs in more than 100 areas of study.
Friends University, a liberal arts school founded by Quakers in 1898, is the fastest-growing private university in Kansas. With 3,200 students, it offers an associate degree program, 46 bachelor's degree programs, and nine master's degree programs in the colleges of arts and sciences, business, and continuing education. Newman University, formerly Kansas Newman College, was founded in 1993 as a Catholic two-year teacher's academy. It is now a four-year liberal arts college offering 6 associate's degrees, 27 bachelor's degrees, and 4 master's degree programs.
The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, at one time affiliated with Wichita State University and now a separate facility, provides medical education in most fields of specialization. The university, which ranks among the top 10 medical schools in the country whose focus is primary care, maintains cooperative programs with area hospitals and operates its own care center on campus and at clinics throughout the city. Other Wichita institutions of higher learning include Southwestern College, Wichita Area Technical College, and Wichita Technical Institute, as well as branches of Baker University, Butler and Cowley county community colleges, and Tabor College of Hillsboro.
Nearly two dozen libraries, maintained principally by public institutions and agencies, hospitals, and corporations, are located in Wichita. The Wichita Public Library has 10 branches throughout the city, the newest of which is the Lionel Alford Regional Branch Library, which opened in April 2003. The collection contains more than 900,000 items including books, videos, music CDs, magazines, motor manuals, art prints, CD-ROMs, maps, and books on cassette. Among special collections are the Driscoll Piracy Collection, Kansas and local history, genealogy, motor manuals, music scores, and state documents. The Wichita State University operates a substantial campus library with about one million volumes, more than 4,000 periodical subscriptions, and numerous special collections on a range of subjects pertaining primarily to Kansas and American history. Also based at the university are the Milton Helpern International Center of Forensic Sciences, which specializes in materials relating to crime and forensic problems, and the Institute for Aviation Research.
Among other libraries and research centers in the city are those affiliated with Friends University, the Wichita Art Museum, the Wichita Eagle, the Midwest Historical and Genealogical Society, the Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Society, and the Boeing Co.
The National Institute for Aviation Research, located at Wichita State University (WSU), is home to 15 laboratories for conducting research in such areas as aerodynamics, aging aircraft, crash dynamics, composites and advanced materials, aircraft icing, structural components, virtual reality, and computational mechanics. WSU's College of Engineering is active in a variety of research programs. The Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning conducts research at the far thresholds of disease management, and the John C. Pair Horticulture Research Center conducts turfgrass research.
Public Library Information: Wichita Public Library, 223 S. Main, Wichita, KS 67202; telephone (316)262-0611; fax (316)262-4540