Best Public Schools in Ransom, KS

Ransom has two Western Plains schools serving different age groups: Western Plains North Elementary serves prekindergarten through grade 8 and has 62 students, while Western Plains High serves grades 9–12 and has 34. The clearest concerns are concentrated in specific subjects: eighth-grade math at North Elementary and English-language arts at the high school.

North Elementary stands out for science in 2024–25, when 60% of students were proficient compared with 41% statewide, a 19-point advantage; its sharpest weakness was eighth-grade math in 2025–26, at 10% versus 40% statewide, a 30-point gap. At Western Plains High, math was close to the state rate in 2024–25 (38% versus 39%), but ELA was much lower (18% versus 44%), a 26-point shortfall. Grade 10 results show the same subject contrast: math was 5 points above the state, while ELA was 20 points below. These are comparisons with state benchmarks; the schools have no tested grade in common.

North Elementary was above state all-grades rates in ELA, math and science in both reported years, but its exceptional science lead narrowed: proficiency fell from 60% in 2024–25 to 41% in 2025–26, while ELA rose from 46% to 50%. Its 2025–26 chronic absenteeism was 8%, compared with 28% at the high school and 18% statewide, making attendance a notable difference between the schools. SchoolDigger placed the high school at the 30th percentile in 2024–25, down from the 42nd percentile in 2018–19 but above its 3rd-percentile result in 2015–16. North Elementary had a student-teacher ratio of 11 and a free/reduced-lunch rate of 69%; the high school’s figures were 8 and 53%. These figures describe the schools but do not establish what caused their achievement results.