Best Public Schools in Colwich, KS

Colwich, Kansas, has two pre-K–8 schools—St. Marks School and Colwich Elementary—both in the Renwick district, with 542 students combined. In the latest results, both schools outperform Kansas in ELA, math and science, but their strongest subjects differ, and the science results are especially far apart.

Colwich Elementary stands out in ELA: 66% of students are proficient, compared with 61% at St. Marks, a 6-point lead; Colwich is 20 points above the state. St. Marks leads in math, 56% to 54%, and science, 56% to 40%. Its science lead is 16 points—the widest school-to-school gap—and it is 18 points above the state, while Colwich is just 2 points above. SchoolDigger ranks Colwich at the 81st statewide percentile and St. Marks at the 67th, so its overall ranking favors Colwich even though St. Marks leads in two of the three subjects.

Recent results show different directions: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, Colwich’s ELA proficiency rose 12 points, while St. Marks’ fell 5; math changed little at both schools, and science declined at both—10 points at Colwich and 7 at St. Marks. Grade-level results add important contrasts: St. Marks leads eighth-grade math by 50 points, but Colwich leads third-grade math by 26 points. Colwich has the lower student-teacher ratio, 10.2 compared with 13.7, and higher per-student spending, $15,251 versus $10,183; St. Marks has lower free/reduced-lunch rates, 10% versus 28%, and lower chronic absenteeism, 3% versus 10%. These school characteristics provide context, not explanations for test results.