Best Public Schools in Chanute, KS

Chanute has three public schools serving prekindergarten through grade 12: Chanute Elementary School (PK–5), Chanute Middle School (6–8), and Chanute High (9–12). Results vary considerably across schools and subjects: in 2025–26, the reported three-school average was about even with the state in math, 2 points below in ELA, and 7 points below in science. The most important takeaway is that Chanute’s results are uneven, with science the clearest shared gap from the state and High’s math results a notable strength.

Chanute High led in all-grades ELA and math, scoring 48% and 50%—about 2 and 9 points above state results. Its math score was 15 points higher than the average of the other two schools. Chanute Middle School led in science at 35%, 6 points above the other schools’ average but 3 points below the state. Chanute Elementary School had the lowest math and science results, at 34% and 27%—7 and 11 points below state results—and its ELA score of 43% was 3 points below the state. Grade-level results also show a sharp dip in Middle’s 8th-grade math: 29% compared with 40% statewide.

Math improved across the schools on average, rising 7 points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, while average ELA rose about 1 point. Those gains were not shared evenly: High’s math rose 12 points, compared with 2 at Elementary and 6 at Middle; Elementary’s ELA fell 4 points and science fell 5. SchoolDigger ranked High 90th of 340 Kansas high schools, Middle 200th of 368, and Elementary 494th of 657. Ratios ranged from 11.7 students per teacher at Elementary to 13.1 at High, while free/reduced-lunch rates ranged from 53% at High to 67% at Elementary. Chronic absenteeism was above the state’s 18% at Elementary (21%) and High (19%), but slightly below it at Middle (17%).