Carbondale Attendance Center, Carbondale KS

Original Research by School Decision on Carbondale Attendance Center

Carbondale Attendance Center is the middle-grades school for the Santa Fe Trail district, serving fourth through eighth graders in a small Osage County town about a dozen miles south of Topeka. It is one of several buildings the district runs across three communities: the youngest students attend in Scranton and Overbrook, while high schoolers go to Santa Fe Trail High School outside Carbondale. The school sits within the town’s compact downtown grid, near City Hall and the public library, in a community that describes itself as a quiet bedroom town with easy highway access to the capital.

The student body is small and predominantly white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the reporting, so a parent with a child in those categories may want to ask the school directly what supports are in place.

State test results from the Kansas Assessment Program are available for all tested grades and subjects. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above declines from fourth grade through eighth, with the higher grades showing notably lower performance. English language arts results are more mixed: fourth graders posted a lower proficiency rate, while fifth, sixth, and seventh graders each landed in the low to mid-forties, and eighth graders were near that same range. In science, the single tested grade in the upper elementary years showed about a third proficient, while the tested grade in middle school was a bit higher. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency index across all subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Osage County. The state changed its cut scores in recent years, so trend comparisons are not directly available. A parent evaluating these results may want to look into how the school supports students who are struggling, especially in the upper grades, and whether any targeted interventions are in place.

No program offerings or course access data was provided for this school, so it is unclear whether students have exposure to advanced coursework, career exploration, or enrichment electives during these middle years. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was also absent from the available records.

Housing in Carbondale is below the Kansas median and well below the national median, consistent with the area’s small-town character and modest commercial base. The town has a grocery store, a bank, a pharmacy, a medical clinic, parks, a swimming pool, and a few community anchors such as East Lake for recreation. Population has been relatively stable in recent years, with no major new developments identified in publicly reported sources. The district itself does not appear to have undergone notable recent changes that were documented at the time of research.

Carbondale Attendance Center offers a focused middle-level setting in a small, low-cost community, with test results that are below average for the county. Families considering this school will want to learn more about academic supports available for the grades where proficiency dips, as well as what enrichment or pathway options exist for students before they move on to high school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 6 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

even with state median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 4 pts above state median

This schoolSanta Fe Trail, 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 4Lower-income29%Higher-income35%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income61%32 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income55%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income43%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income45%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income56%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income42%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income37%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income17%Higher-income27%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income20%Higher-income36%16 pp gap