Marais Des Cygnes Valley Middle

Marais Des Cygnes Valley Middle is a small school in Melvern, Kansas, serving grades 6–8, with 35 students. Its latest results show a clear contrast between subjects, and the most urgent concern is 7th-grade math: just 8% of students were proficient, 30 points below the state.

ELA is the school’s strongest subject compared with nearby schools, while math and science trail both. Overall ELA proficiency was 47%—1 point above the state and 3 points below the Marais Des Cygnes Valley district. It was slightly higher than Osage City Middle School (46%) and well above West Franklin Middle School (32%). Math proficiency was 26%, 15 points below the state and 10 below the district; both nearby schools scored higher, at 53% and 29%. Science was 33%, 5 points below the state and below both nearby schools, which scored 49% and 51%.

ELA has climbed from 11% in 2022–2023 to 47% in 2025–2026, a 37-point gain, while math rose overall by 12 points but dropped 18 points after a much stronger prior year. Science gained 18 points over the same four-year span, though its latest result declined from the year before. SchoolDigger ranks the school 215th of 368 statewide, at percentile 42 with 2 stars; its percentile fell from 63 the previous year. SchoolDigger’s statewide measure places “Low Socio Economic Status Students” at percentile 26, below the school’s overall percentile of 42, indicating a lower statewide standing in how well the school serves that group. The school also has a lower student-teacher ratio than nearby schools, 8.3 versus 11.6 and 10.9, and a higher free/reduced-lunch rate: 74% compared with 46% and 54%. With 35 students, results may shift when relatively few students take tests.