Best High Schools in Zip Code 66502

ZIP code 66502 has two high schools in the Manhattan-Ogden district: Manhattan High School, serving grades 9–12, and Manhattan Virtual Academy, serving grades 6–12. The clearest difference is test performance: Manhattan High had higher 2025–26 proficiency in all three subjects, leading by 13 percentage points in English language arts (ELA), 18 points in math, and 12 points in science.

Manhattan High stands out for stronger test results, while the Virtual Academy is below it in every reported all-grades subject: proficiency was 44% versus 31% in ELA, 44% versus 25% in math, and 37% versus 24% in science. The same pattern holds in the available grade-level comparisons: Manhattan High leads by 18 points in 10th-grade ELA, 10 points in 10th-grade math, and 12 points in 11th-grade science. Manhattan High is above state results in those three matched-grade comparisons; the Virtual Academy is below state results in each. The contrast reverses on reported attendance and dropout measures: chronic absenteeism was 37% at Manhattan High and 1% at the Virtual Academy, while dropout rates were 5% and 1%, respectively.

ELA and math proficiency declined at both schools from 2024–25 to 2025–26, even as state results rose: ELA fell by 6 points at Manhattan High and 7 points at the Virtual Academy, while math fell by 3 and 8 points. SchoolDigger’s percentile ranking also dropped, from 83 to 71 for Manhattan High and from 49 to 26 for the Virtual Academy. The Virtual Academy is much smaller, with 153 students and a 12.5 student–teacher ratio, compared with 2,087 students and a 15.1 ratio at Manhattan High; its reported spending per student was also lower. Graduation rates were 88% at the Virtual Academy and 82% at Manhattan High, with both below the 90% state rate. These measures describe different aspects of the schools, so families may weigh them alongside the consistent test-score gap.