Summary
Nemaha Central Elementary and Middle School in Seneca, Kansas, serves students in prekindergarten through eighth grade and enrolls 509 students. In 2025–26, proficiency was above the state average in ELA, math and science, with the strongest state comparison in science. The sharpest immediate concern is attendance: chronic absenteeism rose to 12%, up 8 percentage points from the prior year, while the nearby schools were at 1% to 3%.
Compared with nearby schools, Nemaha Central’s results are strongest in science and weakest in math and ELA. Its all-grades ELA rate was 56%, below the nearby-school mean of 59%, and its math rate was 53%, compared with a nearby mean of 64%; it ranked last among the four schools in both subjects. In science, it ranked second at 62%, behind Centralia Elementary at 88%, but ahead of Sabetha Elementary School and Axtell Elementary School. Against Kansas, the school was ahead by 10 points in ELA, 12 in math and 24 in science. ELA and math were essentially level with the Nemaha Central district, while science was 16 points higher. Grade results also vary: fifth-grade ELA was just below the state rate, third-grade math was 2 points below, and sixth-grade math was 32 points above.
Over four years, science improved by 10 points, while ELA rose by 8 overall despite a small recent dip, and math fell by 3 amid fluctuations. SchoolDigger ranks the school at the 71st percentile with 4 stars, below all three nearby schools in percentile; its ranking fell 14 points from 2022–23. Its 12.9 student–teacher ratio is close to the nearby average of 12.6, and its 35% free/reduced-lunch rate is near the nearby average of 34%—context, not an explanation for results. One notable subgroup finding is that SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile for students with low socioeconomic status rose from 35 to 68 in two years, nearing the school’s overall percentile of 71.
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