Summary:
The city of Hill City, Kansas is home to two public schools - Hill City Elementary serving grades PK-6 and Hill City Junior-Senior High serving grades 7-12, both part of the Graham County school district. While Hill City Elementary has shown steady improvement in its statewide ranking and assessment performance, the high school has struggled, with lower proficiency rates in core subjects compared to county and state averages.
Hill City Elementary has moved from 397th out of 660 Kansas elementary schools in 2022-2023 to 194th out of 656 in 2024-2025, with 58.65% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and 51.91% in Mathematics. In contrast, the high school maintains a strong 89.5% four-year graduation rate but only 28.04% of students are proficient or better in English Language Arts and 36.57% in Mathematics across all grades.
The data suggests that factors such as socioeconomic status and chronic absenteeism, which is a concern at 19.5% for both schools, may be contributing to the observed performance gap between the two schools. Addressing these underlying issues could be crucial in improving overall school performance and ensuring student success across all grade levels in Hill City.
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