Summary
Bluestem Junior/Senior High enrolls 241 students in grades 7–12 in Leon, Kansas. Its latest graduation rate is a bright spot: 97% in 2023–24, matching the Bluestem district rate and exceeding the state’s 90%. However, 2025–26 all-grades proficiency was 29% in English language arts (ELA), 23% in math and 17% in science, below state and district rates in every subject. The most important concern is that Bluestem had the second-lowest result among the eight schools in the nearby comparison group in all three subjects.
ELA is Bluestem’s strongest subject by comparison, while science is furthest behind the state and math is furthest behind nearby schools. The state’s rates were 46% in ELA, 41% in math and 38% in science; Bluestem’s shortfalls were 17, 18 and 22 percentage points. Compared with nearby-school averages of 39%, 40% and 29%, Bluestem was lower by 10, 16 and 13 points. Results also vary by grade: 7th-grade ELA was 45%, slightly above the state’s 44%, while 10th-grade ELA was 10%, 31 points below the state; 8th-grade math was 11%, 28 points below. Grade-level comparisons for grades 7–8 are unavailable at nearby high schools, and small cohorts can make results vary.
ELA and math proficiency rose from 2022–23 to 2025–26 by 19 and 17 points, respectively, but both fell in the latest year, and their gaps with the state widened again. Science was especially uneven: it rose to 54% in 2024–25 before dropping to 17% the next year. SchoolDigger ranked Bluestem at the 11th percentile with 1 star in 2025–26, down from the 25th percentile the prior year. Its 9.3 students-per-teacher ratio was the lowest among nearby schools with reported figures; its free/reduced-lunch rate was 48%, compared with a nearby average of 38%. SchoolDigger’s measure for “Low Socio Economic Status Students” was at the 30th percentile, above the school’s overall 11th percentile, but had swung from the 7th percentile in 2024–25—so the latest standing does not reflect a consistent pattern.
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