Best Public Schools in Wichita, KS

Wichita’s city summary covers 93 schools: 62 elementary, 16 middle, 12 high and 3 alternative schools, serving students from elementary through high school across several districts. Results vary widely: among nine conventional high schools, average proficiency is 30% in ELA, 21% in math and 18% in science, compared with state results of 46%, 41% and 38%. The clearest takeaway is that school-to-school differences are substantial, so a citywide picture can conceal the options most relevant to a family.

Wheatland Elementary is a standout, with 83% ELA, 87% math and 82% science proficiency—about 37, 46 and 44 percentage points above state results; SchoolDigger ranks it fourth of 657 Kansas elementary schools. Bostic Traditional Magnet Elementary also scores well above state levels, at 81% ELA, 72% math and 67% science, and ranks 16th statewide. Among high schools, Maize South High School leads in ELA and math at 48% in each, while West High is lowest in those subjects at 13% and 7%. South High has the lowest high-school science result, 11%. At grade 8, Robinson Middle School is above state results in ELA and science; Mead Middle School is 30 points below the state in ELA.

High-school ELA improved modestly: the nine-school average rose about 2 points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, while the state average rose about 1 point; the math gap with the state was essentially unchanged. School-level changes differed: Northwest High gained 5 points in ELA and 10 in math, while West’s ELA fell 10 points. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile for Northwest rose from 27 to 46, while Maize South High School’s fell from 87 to 69. Context also varies: Bostic’s free/reduced-lunch rate is 54%, compared with Wheatland’s 11%; South’s student–teacher ratio is 14.3, versus 16.1 at Northwest. These are useful observations about school profiles, not explanations of their results.