Best Public Schools in Independence, KS

Independence, Kansas, has five schools—two elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools—serving students from prekindergarten through high school. Chronic absenteeism averages 16% across the schools, below the state’s 18%. Among the three non-alternative schools with reported scores, average math proficiency is 33%, compared with 41% statewide; math is their clearest shared academic shortfall.

Jefferson School stands out in science, with 48% proficiency—10 points above the state’s 38%. Independence Middle leads All Grades ELA at 44%, and its seventh-grade ELA result is stronger still: 54%, 10 points above the state. Independence Senior High narrowly leads All Grades math at 34%, though that is 7 points below the state. At the bottom, BRIDGES Academy reports 0% in ELA and math and 6% in science. Eisenhower Elementary serves PK–2 but has no test scores listed; BRIDGES enrolls 24 students, and All Grades results cover different grade spans. Senior High also has a 93% graduation rate, above the state’s 90%.

Recent results and SchoolDigger rankings show different paths across schools. From 2023–24 to 2025–26, SchoolDigger’s ranking fell from the 86th to the 43rd percentile for Senior High and from the 51st to the 30th for Jefferson, while Middle rose from the 37th to the 42nd. Across the three non-alternative schools, average ELA proficiency declined by 3 points over the latest year-to-year comparison as the state result rose by 1; the average math gap widened from 3 points below the state to 8 points below. Middle improved in ELA and science, while Jefferson’s results fell in all three subjects. The three schools’ reported student–teacher ratios range from 12.0 to 13.6, and free/reduced-lunch rates from 66% to 82%; these are useful context, not explanations of results.