Best Public Schools in Salina, KS

Summary:

The city of Salina, Kansas is home to 14 schools, including 9 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 3 high schools, and 1 virtual high school, all part of the Salina school district. The district is ranked 195 out of 264 districts in Kansas and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Among the schools, Meadowlark Ridge Elementary stands out, ranking 125th out of 656 elementary schools in Kansas and earning a 4-star rating. It has significantly higher proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Mathematics compared to the district and state averages. Another high-performing school is Ell-Saline Elementary, which is part of the Ell-Saline district but outperforms many of the Salina elementary schools, ranking 440th out of 656 elementary schools in Kansas with a 2-star rating.

The high schools, Salina High South and Salina High Central, have similar performance, with Salina High South ranking slightly higher at 201st out of 332 high schools in Kansas. Both high schools have a 89.5% four-year graduation rate, on par with the state average, and a dropout rate of 1.3%, lower than the state average. However, all schools in the district struggle with high chronic absenteeism rates of 19.5%, significantly higher than the state average.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				KAP English Language Arts (2025)								KAP Mathematics (2025)								KAP Science (2025)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	KAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	KAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 6th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 7th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 8th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 10th Grade	KAP English Language Arts All Grades	KAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	KAP Mathematics 4th Grade	KAP Mathematics 5th Grade	KAP Mathematics 6th Grade	KAP Mathematics 7th Grade	KAP Mathematics 8th Grade	KAP Mathematics 10th Grade	KAP Mathematics All Grades	KAP Science 5th Grade	KAP Science 8th Grade	KAP Science All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Ell-Saline Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	1757 N Halstead Rd	Salina	67401	Saline County	Ell-Saline	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 827-8891	237	20	11.5	43.9%	212 (89.5%)	1 (0.4%)	19 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.1%)	36.5	440^th of 656 public elementary schools	32.9%		29.6	483^rd of 653 public elementary schools	26.0%	43	57.7	29.2	35.3	36.4				39.1	57.7	29.2	14.7	47.7				37.5	29.4		29.4	$13,627	$1,598	$12,029
Coronado Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2725 Ray Ave	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4100	389	32	12.2	49.4%	221 (56.8%)	7 (1.8%)	117 (30.1%)	8 (2.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (9.0%)	38.1	435^th of 656 public elementary schools	33.7%		44.9	377^th of 653 public elementary schools	42.3%	58	31.5	34.7	51.7					39.1	38.9	19.4	61.0					38.4	39.0		39.0	$16,041	$4,258	$11,783
Heusner Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1300 Norton	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4200	392	30	13.0	69.4%	238 (60.7%)	15 (3.8%)	92 (23.5%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (11.5%)	33.4	462^nd of 656 public elementary schools	29.6%		41.8	401^st of 653 public elementary schools	38.6%	61	40.6	47.0	37.3					41.8	34.4	40.9	33.9					36.5	28.8		28.8	$16,852	$5,241	$11,611
Meadowlark Ridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2200 Glen Ave	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4300	431	30	14.5	36.7%	301 (69.8%)	13 (3.0%)	63 (14.6%)	8 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (10.7%)	77	125^th of 656 public elementary schools	80.9%		74.1	127^th of 653 public elementary schools	80.6%	2	60.3	74.1	64.1					67.1	48.3	60.0	68.8					59.4	51.6		51.6	$15,458	$3,992	$11,466
Oakdale Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	811 E Iron	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4310	282	27	10.5	85.8%	147 (52.1%)	8 (2.8%)	64 (22.7%)	7 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (19.9%)	18	559^th of 656 public elementary schools	14.8%		18.9	554^th of 653 public elementary schools	15.2%	5	42.5	41.3	16.3					33.3	26.8	29.8	11.6					22.9	9.3		9.3	$20,187	$5,806	$14,381
Stewart Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2123 Roach	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4450	406	29	14.2	48.0%	243 (59.9%)	7 (1.7%)	99 (24.4%)	19 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (9.4%)	50.4	333^rd of 656 public elementary schools	49.2%		59.7	245^th of 653 public elementary schools	62.5%	88	62.2	46.8	44.1					51.2	48.6	40.3	35.1					41.3	44.1		44.1	$15,212	$4,170	$11,042
Sunset Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1510 W Republic	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4520	380	33	11.4	76.8%	181 (47.6%)	13 (3.4%)	122 (32.1%)	6 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (15.3%)	15.4	577^th of 656 public elementary schools	12.0%		16.3	572^nd of 653 public elementary schools	12.4%	5	36.7	31.9	26.9					32.0	22.9	21.7	18.9					21.3	26.4		26.4	$17,665	$5,804	$11,861
Cottonwood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	215 S Phillips	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4600	326	31	10.5	85.3%	154 (47.2%)	11 (3.4%)	98 (30.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (19.0%)	42.1	393^rd of 656 public elementary schools	40.1%		48.8	340^th of 653 public elementary schools	47.9%	53	40.7	50.0	46.7					45.4	31.5	42.9	48.9					40.4	33.3		33.3	$19,806	$5,961	$13,845
Lakewood Middle School	Public	6-8	1135 Lakewood Cir	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4000	647	53	12.2	66.2%	382 (59.0%)	30 (4.6%)	147 (22.7%)	10 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	78 (12.1%)	38.5	224^th of 363 public middle schools	38.3%		41.9	194^th of 362 public middle schools	46.4%	30				35.6	35.2	39.0		36.7				32.6	30.5	29.5		30.8		40.3	40.3	$13,893	$1,976	$11,917
Salina South Middle	Public	6-8	2015 Simmons	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-3900	782	58	13.4	61.4%	405 (51.8%)	16 (2.0%)	261 (33.4%)	23 (2.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (9.7%)	49.2	174^th of 363 public middle schools	52.1%		49.1	156^th of 362 public middle schools	56.9%	18				43.6	44.1	37.7		41.7				45.6	33.5	36.7		38.5		34.6	34.6	$13,045	$1,731	$11,314
Salina High Central	Public	9-12	650 E Crawford	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-3500	934	65	14.2	58.7%	581 (62.2%)	43 (4.6%)	201 (21.5%)	12 (1.3%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	94 (10.1%)	38.8	213^th of 332 public high schools	35.8%		33.7	229^th of 318 public high schools	28.0%	16							32.1	32.1							31.8	31.8				$14,640	$1,532	$13,108
Salina High South	Public	9-12	730 E Magnolia Rd	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-3700	1,046	71	14.7	55.4%	538 (51.4%)	24 (2.3%)	346 (33.1%)	46 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	92 (8.8%)	41	201^st of 332 public high schools	39.5%		53.9	136^th of 318 public high schools	57.2%	65							34.8	34.8							30.4	30.4				$14,156	$1,492	$12,664
Schilling Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3121 Canterbury	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4400	376	36	10.5	83.5%	123 (32.7%)	13 (3.5%)	190 (50.5%)	9 (2.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	38 (10.1%)	13.6	587^th of 656 public elementary schools	10.5%		26.9	504^th of 653 public elementary schools	22.8%	83	33.8	27.3	29.1					30.5	19.2	17.9	25.0					20.5	23.2		23.2	$17,718	$5,306	$12,412
Salina Virtual Innovation Academy	Public, Virtual	6-12	811 E Iron	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	Yes	No	(785) 309-4369	50	3	17.4	6.0%	31 (62.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (30.0%)	2 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.0%)								(n/a)								27.8								16.7				$9,932	$2,111	$7,821

Cities Near Salina

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Gypsum	10.12 mi	2	72^nd
Brookville	13.74 mi	1	123^rd
Bennington	14.03 mi	2	194^th
Solomon	14.73 mi	2	223^rd
Lindsborg	17.79 mi	4	111^th

See the top KS Kansas cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kansas State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.