The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Science. The lowest is 34% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on St Francis High
St. Francis High serves grades six through twelve in one building at the heart of a small, remote county seat in northwest Kansas. The school is the only secondary option in the St. Francis Comm Sch district, which means nearly every local student in these grades attends here. With an enrollment that is small for a school covering seven grade levels, classes are likely intimate, and students probably receive a lot of individual attention from teachers. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic minority, and about half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that reflects the economic realities of the surrounding agricultural region.
State testing results are available only for the middle-grade levels—sixth through eighth—because Kansas administers its general assessments through grade eight. In those tested grades, performance varies noticeably by subject and grade. On the state’s English language arts assessment, proficiency rates show an uneven pattern: one grade level exceeds half of students meeting the bar, while another falls below that mark. Math proficiency across the same grades is lower overall, with the share of students scoring proficient or advanced ranging from roughly a quarter to just under two-fifths. In eighth-grade science, just over half of students reached the proficiency threshold. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index—a composite of all tested subjects and grades—places it above the top of the range among the two districts in Cheyenne County. That relative strength is meaningful but should be read in context: the comparison set is just two districts, so a top-quartile label here means St. Francis High outperforms the other district in the county, not that it outperforms most schools statewide.
Because the school serves high school grades ten through twelve, the absence of state assessment data for those upper grades is a notable gap. Parents looking for a clear picture of academic preparedness at the high school level would want to ask the school directly about course offerings, graduation requirements, and how students perform on college-entrance exams or in dual-credit programs. The data provided includes no information on Advanced Placement, career and technical education pathways, or early college opportunities, so those program details are not available to report.
The town of St. Francis itself has been in a long, steady population decline, a pattern common across the High Plains. Housing is very affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, and the community is tight-knit, with a traditional county-seat layout where the school, courthouse, churches, and main street are all within a short drive. This is not a place of rapid growth or new development; families who move here typically do so for the quiet rural lifestyle, outdoor recreation like hunting and fishing, and the low cost of living. The school’s small size means most extracurriculars are available but with limited numbers—roster depth for sports and activities may be thin.
Graduation rate data for the school was not available in the provided records, which is another gap a prospective parent would want to clarify. The district did not report any recent major changes in its operations or leadership, so the school appears to be running on a stable, if modest, footing.
St. Francis High is a neighborhood school for a community that values proximity and simplicity. Its academic picture is mixed: middle-grade test scores are better than the only other district in the county, but they are not high in absolute terms, and the lack of high school achievement data leaves important questions unanswered. For a family that prioritizes a small, rural, affordable setting and is comfortable digging deeper into the school’s upper-level offerings, this could be a reasonable fit. For a family that needs strong comparative metrics or a wide array of advanced coursework, more information would be essential before deciding.
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