Summary
Shawnee Heights High is a public high school in Tecumseh, Kansas, serving grades 9–12 with 1,218 students. Its 2023–24 graduation rate was 91%, above the state’s 90%, even as attendance remains a concern. In 2025–26, chronic absenteeism was 34%, compared with 20% in the Shawnee Heights district and 18% statewide. The most important concern for families is that absenteeism is high despite recent academic improvement.
Compared with five nearby high schools serving the same grades, Shawnee Heights performed above the peer average in all three tested subjects and ranked second of six in English language arts (ELA), fourth in mathematics, and third in science. ELA is its strongest relative result: proficiency was 45%, versus a nearby average of 35%, and it ranked just behind Washburn Rural High. Mathematics proficiency was 36%, above the nearby average of 30%, but its weakest nearby-school ranking. Science was 28%, above the nearby average of 24%, yet it is the school’s largest shortfall against the state and district: both were about 38%. ELA was also slightly below the state at 46% and district at 48%; mathematics was 5 points below the state and 8 below the district.
ELA and mathematics have improved since 2022–23, rising 17 and 20 percentage points, respectively, while science was 2 points lower in 2025–26 than in 2022–23. SchoolDigger gave Shawnee Heights a 53rd-percentile statewide ranking and 3 stars in 2025–26, up 15 percentile points from the previous year; only Washburn Rural High and Perry Lecompton High ranked higher among the nearby schools. Its student–teacher ratio was 16.3, the highest among nearby high schools serving the same grades. Its free/reduced-lunch rate was 35%, the third-lowest among nearby schools and 18 points below the comparable-school average of 53%; this is context, not an explanation for results. SchoolDigger’s group rankings show a notable contrast: Hispanic students ranked at the 88th percentile statewide, while African American students ranked at the 26th percentile, down 58 points from 2023–24.
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