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Best Public Schools in Cherokee County, KS

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its Kansas rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

3,511

Students

Districts

Top rankedCentral Elementary124^th of 657 Kansas elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Southeast Elementary School up 67 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Southeast Elementary School 10.4 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

1★

5 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				KAP English Language Arts (2026)								KAP Mathematics (2026)								KAP Science (2026)				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/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	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 11th Grade	KAP Science All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Central Elementary	Public	3-6	1501 Park Ave	Baxter Springs	66713	Cherokee County	Baxter Springs	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 856-3311	223	19	12.0	68.2%	157 (70.4%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.6%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (14.3%)	5 (2.2%)	12 (5.4%)	76.5	124^th of 657 public elementary schools	81.1%		78.5	118^th of 656 public elementary schools	82.0%	6	60.0	80.3	58.1	59.3				64.8	54.9	67.7	56.4	60.0				60.0	50.0			50.0	$12,962	$1,041	$11,920
Lincoln Elementary	Public	PK, KG-2	801 Lincoln Ave	Baxter Springs	66713	Cherokee County	Baxter Springs	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 856-3322	245	16	15.3	65.3%	171 (69.8%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (5.7%)	1 (0.4%)	32 (13.1%)	6 (2.4%)	20 (8.2%)								(n/a)																					$16,364	$1,800	$14,563
Baxter Springs High	Public	7-12	100 N Military	Baxter Springs	66713	Cherokee County	Baxter Springs	No	No	No	No	(620) 856-3366	361	32	11.2	57.3%	270 (74.8%)	4 (1.1%)	15 (4.2%)	1 (0.3%)	35 (9.7%)	4 (1.1%)	32 (8.9%)	72.5	68^th of 340 public high schools	80.0%		76.9	64^th of 332 public high schools	80.7%	4					61.2	71.7	47.4	59.7					51.0	58.5	38.6	49.1		59.6	48.2	53.7	$13,277	$289	$12,987
Unified School District 508 eAcademy	Public, Virtual	7-12	100 N. Miliary	Baxter Springs	66713	Cherokee County	Baxter Springs	No	No	Yes	No	(620) 856-3366	36			—	29 (80.6%)	1 (2.8%)	1 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.6%)								(n/a)								36.4								9.1			17.6	26.3	$5,044	$00	$5,044
Southeast Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	303 S Humbert	Weir	66781	Cherokee County	Cherokee	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 396-8211	149	14	10.4	75.8%	129 (86.6%)	2 (1.3%)	8 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	1 (0.7%)	7 (4.7%)	53.1	314^th of 657 public elementary schools	52.2%		43.1	381^st of 656 public elementary schools	41.9%	67	64.3	52.4						59.2	42.8	33.3						38.8					$15,594	$1,920	$13,674
Park Elementary	Public	PK, KG-1	724 E Garfield Street	Columbus	66725	Cherokee County	Columbus	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 429-3905	208	13	15.8	59.1%	159 (76.4%)	5 (2.4%)	20 (9.6%)	1 (0.5%)	9 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.7%)								(n/a)																					$12,655	$2,838	$9,817
Central Elementary	Public	2-6	810 S High School Avenue	Columbus	66725	Cherokee County	Columbus	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 429-3943	348	27	13.0	64.4%	293 (84.2%)	2 (0.6%)	19 (5.5%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.4%)	1 (0.3%)	27 (7.8%)	38.8	425^th of 657 public elementary schools	35.3%		38.4	430^th of 656 public elementary schools	34.5%	5	35.1	44.9	42.9	34.3				39.1	32.4	53.6	41.1	44.8				42.9	40.3			40.3	$15,360	$3,220	$12,140
Columbus Junior High and High School	Public	7-12	124 S High School Avenue	Columbus	66725	Cherokee County	Columbus	No	No	No	No	(620) 429-3821	438	39	11.1	55.3%	379 (86.5%)	3 (0.7%)	17 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.6%)	43.8	207^th of 340 public high schools	39.1%		34.6	231^st of 332 public high schools	30.4%	24					32.2	34.2	41.2	36.0					30.5	20.3	32.4	27.4		20.3	23.9	22.1	$15,219	$1,252	$13,967
Liberty Elementary	Public	3-5	624 E. 8th Street	Galena	66739	Cherokee County	Galena	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 783-4499	167	14	12.2	64.1%	131 (78.4%)	1 (0.6%)	11 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.8%)	1 (0.6%)	20 (12.0%)	38.5	427^th of 657 public elementary schools	35.0%		42.9	384^th of 656 public elementary schools	41.5%	43	51.6	51.7	51.1					51.5	32.2	36.7	38.3					35.5	23.4			23.4	$13,945	$3,815	$10,130
Spring Grove Primary Center	Public	PK, KG-2	1900 Galena Ave.	Galena	66739	Cherokee County	Galena	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 783-4499	229	14	16.6	65.1%	162 (70.7%)	1 (0.4%)	20 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	2 (0.9%)	41 (17.9%)								(n/a)																					$10,987	$3,001	$7,986
Galena High	Public	9-12	602 East 8th Street	Galena	66739	Cherokee County	Galena	No	No	No	No	(620) 783-4499	236	20	11.6	57.6%	196 (83.1%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (8.9%)	39.1	230^th of 340 public high schools	32.4%		55.4	134^th of 332 public high schools	59.6%	96							34.5	34.5							31.0	31.0			26.2	26.2	$13,974	$1,612	$12,362
Galena Middle School	Public	6-8	624 East 8th Street	Galena	66739	Cherokee County	Galena	No	No	No	No	(620) 783-4499	174	13	13.0	66.1%	134 (77.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.4%)	1 (0.6%)	22 (12.6%)	48.1	181^st of 368 public middle schools	50.8%		62.6	108^th of 363 public middle schools	70.2%	73				39.7	37.5	54.7		45.0				41.4	30.4	45.3		39.7		34.2		34.2	$11,565	$1,937	$9,627
Galena Virtual School	Public, Virtual	9-12	602 East 8th Street	Galena	66739	Cherokee County	Galena	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(620) 783-4499	19			—	11 (57.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (21.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (21.1%)								(n/a)
Riverton Middle	Public	6-8	7144 SE 70th	Riverton	66770	Cherokee County	Riverton	No	No	No	No	(620) 848-3355	147	14	10.4	51.7%	121 (82.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (9.5%)	31.3	269^th of 368 public middle schools	26.9%		24	300^th of 363 public middle schools	17.4%	31				25.9	48.8	41.8		38.3				7.4	35.0	28.4		23.0		22.4		22.4	$13,743	$1,643	$12,100
Riverton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7166 SE 70th	Riverton	66770	Cherokee County	Riverton	No	No	No	Yes	(620) 848-4078	313	26	12.0	61.3%	258 (82.4%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (11.8%)	37.4	447^th of 657 public elementary schools	32.0%		43.8	378^th of 656 public elementary schools	42.4%	69	61.4	39.2	48.1					49.0	43.2	23.5	25.0					29.9	38.5			38.5	$13,211	$1,931	$11,280
Riverton High	Public	9-12	7120 SE 70th	Riverton	66770	Cherokee County	Riverton	No	No	No	No	(620) 848-3388	218	20	10.8	55.5%	177 (81.2%)	4 (1.8%)	2 (0.9%)	3 (1.4%)	10 (4.6%)	1 (0.5%)	21 (9.6%)	47.9	181^st of 340 public high schools	46.8%		41.2	199^th of 332 public high schools	40.1%	18							40.9	40.9							29.5	29.5			31.0	31.0	$18,102	$1,336	$16,766

SchoolDigger rankings lists for Kansas:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts 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.