Colby Senior High

Colby Senior High is a 296-student school serving grades 9–12 in Colby, Kansas, with three nearby high schools providing a local comparison. Its latest results show a clear difference by subject: English Language Arts (ELA) is its strongest area, while math is its weakest compared with nearby schools. The key takeaway is that ELA stands out locally, but all three tested subjects remain below state proficiency levels.

In ELA, Colby had 43% proficiency—9 percentage points above Colby Public Schools and 3 points below the state. It led nearby schools: Oakley Senior High had 29%, Golden Plains High had 28%, and Brewster High had 20%. Math is a sharper concern: Colby’s 31% was below its district’s 35% and the state’s 41%, and it ranked third among the four nearby schools. Its 28% in science was also below the district’s 32% and the state’s 38%, though it was higher than nearby schools with reported results; Brewster has no science result supplied.

ELA and math have improved substantially since 2022–23, rising 35 and 24 percentage points, respectively, though both slipped in the latest year. Science gained only 2 points over the reported period, while its gap below the state widened from 5 to 10 points. SchoolDigger rates Colby at the 46th percentile with 2 stars in 2025–26, down 22 percentile points from the prior year’s high; its overall percentile was 14 in 2022–23. One subgroup result also merits attention: SchoolDigger’s measure of how well the school serves Low Socio Economic Status Students relative to the same group statewide fell from the 72nd percentile in 2024–25 to the 26th in 2025–26. Colby is larger than its neighbors and has a higher student-teacher ratio (13.6 versus their average of 8.0); its free/reduced-lunch rate, 30%, is below their 49% average. Chronic absenteeism was 20%, compared with 13% in the district and 18% statewide.