South Hutchinson Elem, South Hutchinson KS

Original Research by School Decision on South Hutchinson Elem

South Hutchinson Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the small Reno County suburb of South Hutchinson. The school is part of the Nickerson school district, which also serves the nearby town of Nickerson. The community itself is a modest, car-oriented town that sits at a major highway interchange and promotes itself as pro-growth and business-friendly, with industrial employers such as Morton Salt, Tyson Foods, and Collins Bus Company anchoring the local economy. City leaders emphasize low taxes and utility rates as incentives for commercial development, and available tracts on Main Street and at the highway corridor signal an active push for business expansion. Housing values in the area are below the state and national medians, making the community comparatively affordable for families.

The school’s enrollment is modest for its pre-K through sixth grade band. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of the economic circumstances of the families it serves. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population representing a notable minority and small numbers of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. No data on students with disabilities or English learners was available, so a parent looking for information on special education or language support services may want to ask the school directly.

South Hutchinson Elementary participates in Kansas’s state testing program, the KAP, for grades three through six. It is important to note that Kansas adjusted its cut scores in both math and ELA in recent years, so comparisons with prior years are not straightforward. Across tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among districts in Reno County, meaning it performs somewhat above average relative to its local peers. However, the results vary considerably by grade and subject.

In English language arts, third graders showed a strong majority meeting the proficiency bar, but fourth and fifth graders posted more modest results, and by sixth grade the share of students scoring proficient or above dropped to roughly one-quarter. Math proficiency followed a similar pattern: third, fourth, and fifth graders saw around two-fifths to just under half reaching proficiency, but sixth grade math was a clear soft spot, with a much smaller share of students meeting the standard. Science testing in grade five showed about half of students proficient. The drop-off in middle-elementary grades, especially in sixth grade, is a pattern a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand how the curriculum and supports change as students get older.

Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The district’s high school is in Nickerson, so families moving past elementary will transition to a different building and likely a different community context. No recent district-level changes of lasting parent relevance were found in publicly available sources.

For a family considering South Hutchinson Elementary, the school offers a small-town setting with a largely homogeneous student population and a moderate level of economic diversity. Academic performance is mixed: early elementary reading looks like a relative strength, while math performance in the upper elementary grades, particularly sixth grade, is an area where outcomes are weaker than in the early grades. The school’s overall standing among Reno County districts is slightly above the middle, but the range across districts in the county is narrow, so the differences are not dramatic. Housing is affordable, and the town’s pro-business orientation suggests steady but modest growth. This is a school that fits families looking for a reasonably priced, small, conventional public elementary in a low-key suburban setting with a mix of industrial and commercial character.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 37% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 40% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 58% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 36% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 59% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 58% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 35% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 64% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

This schoolNickerson, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income68%Higher-income67%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income40%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income54%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income22%Higher-income29%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income42%Higher-income44%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income48%Higher-income40%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income62%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income21%7 pp gap