The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Math. The lowest is 40% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Marion Middle
Marion Middle serves grades six through eight in the small rural city of Marion, the county seat of Marion County, Kansas. The school is part of the Marion-Florence USD 408 district and sits within walking distance of downtown, near Marion High School and the Marion County Courthouse. The town itself has a modest downtown business district along Main Street, is served by multiple highways, and has a population that has been gradually declining, consistent with a slow small-town shrinkage rather than growth.
The student body is small for a middle school, and enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The student population is predominantly white, with a small number of Hispanic students and an even smaller number of Black and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and language support services.
State assessment results from the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) are available for the 2024-25 school year, though the state changed cut scores for both math and English language arts that year, which makes direct comparisons to prior years unreliable. In math, seventh graders were the strongest, with a large majority scoring proficient or above. Sixth graders were the weakest in math, with just over a third reaching proficiency. Eighth graders landed in between, with half proficient. In English language arts, seventh graders again performed the strongest, with a solid majority proficient. Sixth graders were at just under two fifths proficient, and eighth graders were just under half. In eighth grade science, two fifths of students scored proficient or above. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits near the middle of the seven districts in Marion County, slightly above the midpoint of the cohort. The standout grade is seventh, which shows strong results in both math and English language arts. The lower proficiency rates in sixth grade for both subjects represent a notable soft spot a parent may want to explore further with the school.
Because Marion Middle serves only middle school grades, there is no graduation rate to report.
No recent parent-relevant changes were found at the district level. The district brief turned up no referendums, curriculum shifts, property tax changes, or other notable developments in the last several years, so the operating context has been stable.
Housing in Marion is considerably more affordable than national or state benchmarks. Home values are well below the Kansas average, and the typical monthly mortgage payment is modest by national standards. The national unemployment rate has been steady, and real median household income nationally has edged up slightly in recent years.
No data on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, or chronic absenteeism was available for this school. A parent who wants to understand class sizes, behavior climate, or elective and support offerings would need to follow up directly with the school or district.
Marion Middle presents as a straightforward small-town middle school where a majority of seventh graders meet state standards in math and English, while sixth and eighth grades show more mixed results. Its size, setting, and largely homogeneous student body define the peer environment. The lack of public data on several operational measures leaves some unknowns, but the academic picture that exists points to seventh grade as a bright spot and sixth grade reading and math as areas the school is likely working on.
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