Shawnee Heights Elem, Topeka KS - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Shawnee Heights Elem

Shawnee Heights Elem is a public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Topeka, Kansas. It sits within the Shawnee Heights school district, which covers parts of Shawnee County. Topeka itself is the state capital, a city whose economy draws on government, agriculture, and manufacturing. The city’s population has held fairly steady in recent years, with a modest decline, so the area is not one of rapid new growth. Families moving into the neighborhood will find a familiar Midwestern capital with civic anchors like the Kansas State Capitol and Gage Park.

The school’s academic picture comes from the Kansas Assessment Program, or KAP, for the 2024-25 school year. Test results are available for math and English language arts in grades three through six, and for science in grade five. Across those tested subjects and grades, the overall proficiency rate places Shawnee Heights Elem in the bottom quartile when compared with other districts in Shawnee County. That is a soft spot worth noting. A parent looking at these results may want to follow up with the school about the specific academic supports it offers, especially since the state changed its test cut scores for the 2024-25 year, which makes year-to-year trend comparisons unreliable. No prior-year data was available in the source material, so there is no way to tell if scores are improving or declining from earlier years.

Within the school, performance varies by grade and subject. In the younger grades, the share of students reaching the proficient or advanced level was modest. By fourth grade, a larger portion of students met that bar in both math and reading, but the numbers dropped again in fifth and sixth grades, particularly in math. Science results in fifth grade were similar. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.

Shawnee Heights Elem enrolls a moderately sized student body. The student population is predominantly white, with a notable share of Hispanic students and a smaller but present group of students who identify as two or more races. Just over a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need that is in line with many public schools in the region. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learner status was not reported in the provided information.

The housing market around the school reflects a more affordable cost of living than the national average. Home values in the zip code are well below the Kansas median and even further below the national median. Rent is also modest, and the estimated rent-to-income ratio suggests typical housing costs are manageable for many households. The national context of higher mortgage rates and rent inflation applies here as well, but the local market remains comparatively attainable.

The Shawnee Heights district passed a bond issue in 2022 to fund facility improvements across the system, including safety and security upgrades, HVAC and roofing work, and classroom additions at the high school and middle school. That investment carries lasting implications for school capacity and building conditions that families living within the district boundaries will experience. It does not directly affect the elementary building, but it signals that the district has invested in infrastructure broadly.

A parent considering Shawnee Heights Elem should weigh the school’s academic standing against its location, affordability, and the district’s recent facility upgrades. The test results are lower than many of the county’s other districts, and the data does not provide a clear trend line. A conversation with the school about its approach to math and reading instruction, and how it supports students who arrive below grade level, would be a sensible next step.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 43% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 48% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 37% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 46% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 49% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 51% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 50% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 39% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 43% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolShawnee Heights, 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-income13%Higher-income54%42 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income69%Higher-income50%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income49%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income38%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income8%Higher-income55%47 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income54%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income35%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income43%9 pp gap