Isely Traditional Magnet

Isely Traditional Magnet uses the popular back-to-basics philosophy, with standardized dress and a smaller school population. Isely accepts students from north and east Wichita. The 250-seat school is the fourth traditional magnet in the Wichita Public Schools district.

• Small school and small class size, giving greater individual attention to all students, and creating a family atmosphere within the entire school.
• Accessible, collaborative, exemplary teachers who value the parent partnership, and celebrate the total life of each child.
• State-of-the-art technology, including wireless desktop lab, 3-4 classroom computers, scanners, digital camera, and closed-circuit televisions used to produce daily broadcast with students.
• Parents are considered invaluable partners in the education of their child.
• Discipline plan focus on individual respect and responsibility, with clearly defined expectations for behavior and the way we treat others.
• Homework is valued and expected.
• Wichita Police Department and Wichita Public Schools security officials report that safety at the Isely campus mirrors that of other district schools during the hours teachers, parents and students are in the building.
• Community resources and partnerships: Atwater Neighborhood City Hall (community police, parent involvement liaison, computer lab, etc.), Northeast Magnet High School, Lynette Woodard Recreation Center, Westar Energy, AT&T, YMCA Black Achievers and multiple area churches.

Click here to view the graphs of Isely's achievements

1. Exit from I-135 on 21^st. Go east on 21^st to Grove. Go south on Grove to 19^th. Go east on 19^th to Poplar.
2. Exit from K-96 at Hillside. Go south to 18^th. Go west to Poplar.
3. Exit east Kellogg at Hillside. Go north on Hillside to 18^th St. Go west on 18^th St. to Poplar. Isely is on the corner.

See Maps for all USD 259 locations.

The mission of Isely Traditional Magnet is to expect and value maximum academic performance from every child and to prepare each child to be a successful, productive, responsible citizen by:

• Promoting self-respect and respect for others
• Actively involving families and the community in each child's education
• Providing a safe, supportive and structured environment for learning
• Providing a challenging curriculum guided by USD 259 standards
• Encouraging good choices, responsibility and self-discipline

• Isely students will meet the achievement goals set by the state of Kansas for reading and mathematics each year, or exceed the previous year's achievement by 3%, depending on which is the higher goal
• The achievement gaps for designated subgroups will decrease each year

The Isely Site Council is a vital decision-making group for our school. It functions via four critical subcommittees: Student Achievement, Parent Involvement, Marketing, and Finance. We welcome involvement from all parents who are interested in partnering with Isely staff to support our growth toward excellence for all Isely students.

Meeting Day: Second Thursday of each month
Time: 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Location: Library

• Isely is a traditional magnet K-5 with two classes per grade
• Structured, traditional instruction, with a phonics emphasis in the primary grades
• Academic rigor and an expectation for excellence for all students
• Parent involvement highly valued
• Gifted and Interrelated Special Education Programs
• Standardized Dress Code
• Latchkey Program provides quality childcare before and after school
• Technology includes SmartBoard, wireless laptop lab, classroom computers, closed-circuit broadcast system, airliners, and clickers
• School-wide discipline plan includes character education with traditional values promoted

Kindergarten

Half-Day Kindergarten: None
All-Day Kindergarten: Two sections of all-day Kindergarten, 9 a.m. - 4:10 p.m.

Since the construction of Isely Elementary School was not completed for the fall of 1949-50, children in the afternoon half of the double shift at Fairmount School were selected to attend the new school. On November 10, 1949, Isely, the city's most ultramodern school building, was opened with 425 students. The cost of the school designed by Schmidt, McVay and Peddie was $425,000.

The school was named in honor of the late W.H. Isely, first dean of Fairmount College and prominent civic leader. The building is of buff colored brick, single-story construction in the shape of an "E" which permits all 16 classrooms to receive light and air from both sides of the room, an innovation at that time in Wichita school buildings.

Radiant heating pipes are imbedded in the floor and individual sanitary facilities in the kindergarten and first three grades' rooms. The upper-grade classrooms were installed in a parallel wing, entering into a corridor providing individual lockers. The vertical portion of the "E" contains a library, workroom, health room, lounge and the school office.

Miss Laura Houk was the first building principal to administer the school. Isely was the 38th grade school built in the system and opened with a staff of 14 classroom teachers. During the school year 1950-51 the Isely student population grew from 425 to 620. The next school year, 1951-52, the student population grew to 783 with 22 classroom teachers.

The 1967-68 school year produced the highest enrollment figure with over 900 pupils in attendance. Twenty-one annexes were used to house the growing student population.

By 1970-71 Isely had a student body that was 99 percent black, and in 1971-72 the school was closed in accordance with the integration plan adopted by the Board of Education at that time. On February 1, 1973 Isely was reopened as an integrated school serving pupils with exceptional abilities in grades four, five and six. The children who attend are identified and recommended for participation by school principals and staff, with final selection made by a screening committee. The instructional program is designed to foster the unusual abilities of the children. The enrollment is maintained at approximately 225.

At the beginning of the 1988-89 year, sixth grade students were incorporated into the middle school program and Isely's name was changed from Isely Alternative School to Isely Enrichment Magnet School with grades 3-5.

In August 1993, Isely became a school governance pilot school. Richard Davis was half time principal, half time teacher. In 1994, the school returned to regular status with a full time principal.

At the April 8, 1996 meeting, the Board of Education approved the closing of the Isely School building at the end of the 1995-96 school year, and the entire program relocated to Mueller Elementary building as a school-within-a-school.

In the summer of 1997, the Board of Education gave approval to re-open the Isely building to house an Edison School. The Board of Education approved the name change to Isely Edison Academy. The enrollment for the 1997-98 school year began with approximately 280 students. Students who attended Isely Edison Academy went through an application process. This school offered: an extended school day - so students have more time for learning and to provide time for learning the arts, foreign languages, and physical education; a longer school year - students attend school 206 days a year; a computer in the home of every student - to promote regular communication among parents, teachers and students and to make advanced technology an integral part of the child's future.

At the end of the 2001-2002 school year the Edison program at Isely was stopped, and Isely became a traditional Magnet School beginning with the 2002-2003 school year.

In April 2000, the voters of the Wichita School District approved a $284.5 million bond issue. The projects began in the fall of 2000 and were completed over the next five years. The plan built 19 multipurpose rooms, upgraded science labs, replaced portable classrooms with permanent construction, improved handicap accessibility to all buildings, rebuilt five existing elementary schools, added a new elementary and middle school, expanded seven other elementary schools and provided nine new libraries as well as the expansion of nine others. Building infrastructure in 82 buildings was also upgraded, including the replacement of antiquated plumbing, updates and expansion of electrical systems, replacement of inefficient or broken windows and doors, upgrades of heating and cooling systems, and asbestos abatement when required.

The district hired National Contractors, Inc. to complete the Beech, Gammon and Isely Bond projects. Isely received infrastructure (new airconditioning and heating).