Ness City

Ness City has two schools serving 277 students: Ness City Elementary covers prekindergarten through grade 6, and Ness City High serves grades 7–12. The clearest concern for families is that Elementary’s strong overall results conceal a sharp grade 6 drop: grade 6 proficiency is 30% in ELA and 35% in math, below the state rates of 42% and 41%, while Elementary’s grades 3–5 results are above the state in both subjects.

Ness City Elementary stands out in the 2025–26 all-grades results, with 64% proficient in ELA, 60% in math, and 73% in science—about 18, 19, and 35 percentage points above Kansas, respectively. Ness City High is near state levels overall: 46% in ELA, 42% in math, and 38% in science. The largest difference between the schools is in science, where Elementary is 35 points ahead; the gap is 18 points in ELA and math. These all-grades results describe different grade spans, not students taking the same grade-level tests. High has some notable grade-level strengths: 10th-grade math is 60%, 23 points above the state, and 11th-grade science is 12 points above.

Results improved overall at Elementary from 2024–25 to 2025–26: ELA rose 6 points, math 8, and science 42. High’s ELA rose 1 point, while math fell 1 and science fell 10, so the area’s rising two-school averages do not reflect improvement at both schools. SchoolDigger gives both schools four stars; Elementary ranks in the 82nd percentile statewide and High in the 87th. Attendance is another positive: chronic absenteeism is 14% at Elementary and 8% at High, compared with 18% statewide. Enrollment, student-teacher ratios, and income measures differ—Elementary has 155 students, a 13.3 ratio, and a 41% free/reduced-lunch rate; High has 122 students, a 7.8 ratio, and a 38% rate—but these figures alone do not explain the score differences.