Summary
Jefferson Elementary is a 261-student school in Arkansas City, Kansas, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. Its 2025–26 results were close to state proficiency rates in English language arts (ELA) and math, and above the Arkansas City district in all three tested subjects. The clearest academic concern is science: 32% of students were proficient, 6 percentage points below the state and 2 points below the nearby-school average.
ELA is Jefferson’s strongest result against nearby schools: 45% proficiency was 4 points above their average, and Jefferson ranked fourth among the ten nearby schools. Its rate was 1 point below the state and 14 points above the district. In math, 40% proficiency was 7 points above the nearby average and 16 points above the district, but 1 point below the state; Jefferson ranked fifth nearby. Science ranked sixth nearby. Results also vary by grade: fourth-grade math was a bright spot at 46%, above the state’s 44% and higher than all but three nearby schools, while third-grade ELA was 35%, well below the state’s 52%, with seven nearby schools scoring higher.
Proficiency has risen since 2022–23, but progress differs by subject: ELA increased 14 points, math 3 points, and science 6 points. The state gap narrowed in ELA, while math moved from 5 points above the state to 1 point below, and science remained below the state. SchoolDigger ranks Jefferson 428th of 657 statewide, at the 35th percentile with 2 stars; its percentile is up 24 points from 2020–21, though it sits around the middle of nearby schools. Context includes a 15.5 student-teacher ratio, compared with a nearby average of 13.3, and a 72% free/reduced-lunch rate, versus 63% nearby. SchoolDigger’s Hispanic Students ranking was at the 70th percentile in 2025–26, compared with the school’s overall 35th percentile. Its English Language Learner Students ranking fell from the 67th percentile in 2021–22 to the 1st in 2022–23; no later figure is supplied, so that is a historical change rather than a current-year ranking.
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