Summary:
ZIP code 66002 has four Atchison Elementary School (PK–5), Atchison Middle School (grades 6–8), Atchison High School (grades 9–12) and Central School (grades 2–12), serving 1,450 students across the area. The most important finding is that every school’s 2025–26 all-grades proficiency was below the state result in English language arts (ELA), math and science; even the strongest school result in each subject fell short.
Atchison Elementary led ELA and math, with 38% and 29% proficient, compared with state results of 46% and 41%. Central was lowest in all three subjects—13% in ELA, 6% in math and 13% in science—and had the highest chronic absenteeism, at 70%. Atchison High had the top science result at 27%, just ahead of Atchison Middle at 26%; High’s graduation rate was 95%, versus 90% statewide. SchoolDigger places Elementary at the 18th percentile, High at the 20th and Middle at the 14th; each has one star. Central’s enrollment is 51, so its results merit particular caution.
Recent results are mixed: the four-school average in ELA fell 3 percentage points from the prior year, while the math average rose 3 points and narrowed its gap with the state slightly. For science, Elementary and Middle together fell 8 points, and their gap with the state widened. Individual changes varied: Elementary gained 6 points in ELA and 5 in math, while High’s ELA result fell 13 points; Middle’s math rose 9 points. School context also differs: student–teacher ratios range from 11.2 at Middle to 15.3 at Elementary, and free/reduced-price lunch rates range from 58% at High to 65% at Elementary. These are useful observations, not explanations for score differences.
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