Sabetha Middle School

Sabetha Middle School serves 173 students in grades 6–8 in Sabetha, Kansas. Its results are mixed: all-grades math and science proficiency are above the state, but ELA is below it, and sixth-grade ELA is the clearest concern, at 30% proficient compared with 42% statewide.

Science is the school’s strongest subject against the state: 49% of students are proficient, 11 points above the state, though below Hiawatha Middle School at 59% and Prairie Hills at 51%. Math is also above the state (45% versus 41%), but below Hiawatha (50%) and Prairie Hills (56%). ELA is 44%, below the state’s 46%, Hiawatha’s 50%, and Prairie Hills’ 52%. Grade-level results reveal brighter spots: seventh-grade ELA is 52%, above the state’s 44%, and eighth-grade math is 53%, above the state’s 40%. Chronic absenteeism is a positive comparison: 8% at Sabetha, versus 18% statewide and 19% at Hiawatha. All-grades comparisons have a limitation: Hiawatha serves grades 5–8, while Sabetha serves grades 6–8.

Scores have improved from 2022–2023 in math and ELA, but the school has not kept pace with state gains: math rose 6 points at Sabetha versus 10 statewide, and ELA rose 8 versus 13. Science remains above the state, but its lead has narrowed from 23 points to 11. SchoolDigger ranks Sabetha 126th of 368 Kansas middle schools, at the 66th percentile with 3 stars, down 20 percentile points from 2022–2023; Hiawatha is at the 75th percentile with 4 stars. At the district level, Prairie Hills ranks at the 94th percentile with 5 stars, compared with Hiawatha district at the 59th percentile with 3 stars. Sabetha’s student-teacher ratio is 13.1, compared with Hiawatha’s 11.1; its free/reduced-lunch rate is 34% versus 54%, context that does not explain score differences. SchoolDigger’s statewide group rankings show a notable contrast: it ranks at the 82nd percentile for how well it serves female students, but the 39th percentile for male students, down from the 80th percentile in 2020–2021.