Summary:
Mission has two public elementary schools serving prekindergarten through grade 6 in the Shawnee Mission Public School district. Both schools’ 2025–26 all-grades proficiency results were above the state in English language arts (ELA), math and science, but the area average masks a substantial difference between them. The most important finding for families is that the two schools serve the same grades and have similar enrollments, yet their proficiency results differ by 33 points in ELA, 38 points in math and 40 points in science.
Highlands Elementary stands out as the area’s top performer, with 85% proficiency in ELA, 81% in math and 90% in science; Rushton Elementary recorded 53%, 43% and 50%, respectively. Both schools were above state results in all three subjects, though Rushton’s advantages were narrower: 7 points in ELA, 2 in math and 12 in science. Averaged equally, the schools were 23 points above the state in ELA, 21 in math and 32 in science. SchoolDigger ranked Highlands 5th of 657 schools, at the 99th percentile, and Rushton 299th, at the 54th percentile.
Results moved in different directions from 2024–25 to 2025–26: Highlands rose by 1 point in ELA, 1 in math and 3 in science, while Rushton fell by 2, 5 and 7 points, respectively. Rushton’s overall math result also hides variation by grade: it was below the state in grades 3 and 5, but above it in grades 4 and 6. Context measures differ too: Highlands had a 10% free/reduced-lunch rate and a 12.9 student-teacher ratio, compared with 53% and 14.7 at Rushton; reported chronic absenteeism was 3% and 15%, respectively. These are observations, not explanations for achievement differences. Science results are reported for grade 5 only.
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