Best Public Schools in Scandia, KS

Scandia, Kansas, has two Pike Valley schools, serving grades 7–8 and 9–12, with 81 students combined. Both report 2025–26 state test results, and their academic profiles differ sharply: Pike Valley Junior High exceeded state results in all three reported subjects, while Pike Valley High had a substantial ELA shortfall. The most important finding is that Junior High’s strong results contrast with High’s particularly weak ELA performance.

Pike Valley Junior High stands out at the top on current results: its proficiency was 70% in ELA, 61% in math, and 69% in science, exceeding state results by 24, 20, and 31 percentage points, respectively. Pike Valley High is the main concern in ELA: 19% were proficient, 27 points below the state; its math result was 40% and science was 33%, also below state results. SchoolDigger ranks Junior High 14th of 368 schools, in the 96th percentile with 5 stars; High ranks 215th of 340, in the 37th percentile with 2 stars. Because the schools serve different grades, their all-grades results are not a like-for-like comparison.

Recent trends strengthen the contrast: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, Junior High rose 10 points in ELA, 7 in math, and 2 in science, while High’s ELA fell 21 points and its math was essentially unchanged. Other measures offer useful context: High’s 2023–24 graduation rate was 92%, 3 points above the state, and its chronic absenteeism was 9% versus 18% statewide. Junior High’s absenteeism was 15%. Student-teacher ratios were 7.6 at Junior High and 6.2 at High; free/reduced-lunch rates were 37% and 39%, respectively. These figures add context but do not explain the difference in results.