Original Research by School Decision on Frontenac Sr. High School
Frontenac Sr. High School serves grades nine through twelve in the Frontenac Public Schools district, located in a small Kansas city that was founded as a coal mining town and now functions primarily as a residential community with a compact downtown. The high school sits at 201 S. Crawford Street, integrated into the town’s core rather than on a remote campus, and is within walking distance of civic spaces like the Frontenac Recreation Center and Heritage Hall museum. The town itself has a very modest population and is experiencing slow growth, with recent improvements focused on recreational infrastructure such as a new football stadium and track at the Sports Complex.
The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a noticeably smaller share of Hispanic students and an even smaller presence of other racial and ethnic groups. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that aligns with the area’s modest median household income. The enrollment across the four grade levels is fairly evenly distributed, and the total size is small enough that most students would know one another and teachers would have the chance to know each student individually. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent with a child in either category would want to ask the school directly about how those programs are staffed and resourced.
State testing data was not available for this school, so there is no reported measure of academic proficiency to share. Similarly, no four-year graduation rate was reported in the data. These gaps mean a parent cannot evaluate the school’s academic performance through those standard public metrics. It may be that the data was simply not submitted or reported in the available sources, or it could reflect the nature of the school’s reporting cycle. A parent considering this high school should ask the district or school office directly for the most recent test results and graduation rates, as those are basic indicators families typically rely on.
The comparison to other districts in Crawford County was not possible for the same reason: the key metrics of proficiency, graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism were all listed as not applicable due to missing values. That leaves a parent without a relative benchmark against neighboring school systems such as Pittsburg or Girard.
Program offerings at the high school were not detailed in the available data. It is unclear what Advanced Placement, dual-credit, career and technical education, or extracurricular options are available. Given the school’s size and its location in a community that hosts a Fort Scott Community College campus and a Harley Davidson Technician Training Center, a parent may want to investigate whether there are local partnerships that provide students with college or trade pathways.
Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks. Home values are below the Kansas median, and monthly mortgage costs are moderate relative to typical incomes. The local unemployment rate is near the national average, and the overall economic context is stable but not booming. For families who prioritize a small, close-knit school setting in a town where schools, parks, and community events are within walking distance of each other, Frontenac Sr. High offers that kind of environment. For families who need to see test scores and graduation rates to make a decision, the lack of that information is a real limitation that would require follow-up with the school.
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