Summary:
Leon has two Bluestem schools serving 508 students: Bluestem Elementary School (pre-K–6) and Bluestem Junior/Senior High (grades 7–12). In 2025–26, their simple average proficiency rates were 33% in English language arts, 28% in math, and 27% in science, compared with state rates of 46%, 41%, and 38%. The most important area-wide finding is that results averaged below the state in all three subjects, with the schools’ average science result especially weak after a sharp drop from the prior year.
Bluestem Elementary School stands out relative to the high school: its all-grades results were 38% in ELA, 33% in math, and 38% in science, versus 29%, 23%, and 17% at Bluestem Junior/Senior High—gaps of 10, 10, and 22 percentage points. The elementary school was about 8 points below the state in ELA and math, but essentially level in science; the high school was below the state by 17 points in ELA, 18 in math, and 22 in science. The high school also has bright spots: 7th-grade ELA was 1 point above the state, and its 2023–24 graduation rate was 97%, 8 points above the state. The schools serve different grades, so their all-grades results are not direct same-grade comparisons.
Recent results show a clear exception as well as a broader decline: the high school’s science proficiency fell from 54% in 2024–25 to 17% in 2025–26, while the elementary school’s science result edged up by 1 point. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile ranking for the high school fell from 24th in 2023–24 to 11th in 2025–26; the elementary school rose from 23rd to 37th, then fell to 25th. The high school has a lower student–teacher ratio (9.3 versus 11.6), but higher chronic absenteeism: 21%, compared with 6% at the elementary school and 18% statewide. Its reported free/reduced-lunch rate is also higher, 48% versus 42%; these figures are context, not an explanation for results.
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