Best Public Schools in Yates Center, KS

Yates Center’s two schools cover PK–12: Yates Center Elementary serves PK–6 and enrolls 249 students, while Yates Center High serves grades 7–12 and enrolls 181. In 2025–26, both schools were above Kansas in all-grades science proficiency, but their ELA and especially math results differed sharply. The most important takeaway is that the elementary had higher all-grades ELA and math results, while science was a strength at both schools.

Yates Center Elementary stands out in all-grades ELA and math: it scored 51% and 52%, compared with 32% and 19% at Yates Center High—gaps of 19 and 33 percentage points. The high school’s science results are a counterpoint: its all-grades score was 44%, above the state’s 38%, and its 11th-grade result was 50% versus 30% statewide. At the high school, grade 8 was a particular challenge: ELA was 19% versus 42% statewide, and math was 32 points below the state. Elementary grade-level ELA and math were generally above state results in grades 4–6, though grade 3 was slightly below in both subjects.

Recent results were mixed: high-school ELA rose 12 percentage points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, while its math fell 6 points; elementary ELA fell 4 points, and its math was nearly unchanged. Across the two schools, the average gap to the state narrowed in ELA, widened in math, and science’s advantage grew. Both schools have three SchoolDigger stars; the elementary ranks at the 64th percentile and the high school at the 59th. Attendance also differs: chronic absenteeism was 11% at elementary and 22% at the high school, compared with 18% statewide. Student–teacher ratios were 12.1 and 10.2, respectively, and reported free/reduced-lunch rates were similar at 59% and 57%.