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Schools›Kansas›Liberal
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LIBERAL·NCES 200873001587

Cottonwood Elementary School

1100 W. 11th, Liberal, KS 67901 · (620) 604-2700 · Seward County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL500 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 13% of Kansas public elementary schools
  • DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
  • ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.

Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Kansas public elementary schools

Enrollment
500
Elementary
DISTRICT 449 · STATE 313
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
446 students
DISTRICT 88% · STATE 51%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Kindergarten7515%
Grade 18317%
Grade 28717%
Grade 39218%
Grade 47114%
Grade 59218%

This year's kindergarten class (75) is 18% smaller than its 5th grade class (92).

Student demographics
22%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 23% · STATE 58% · US 70%
White
418%
DISTRICT 9% · STATE 60% · US 43%
Hispanic
43988%
DISTRICT 87% · STATE 23% · US 30%
Black
41%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 7% · US 15%
Asian
71%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 3% · US 6%
Two+
71%
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 6% · US 5%
Native American
20%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 1% · US 1%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Male
26453%
Female
23647%

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Test scores

KAP 2024-25 . % Meeting + Exceeding
English Language Arts
24.2%
KS avg 44.5%
Math
16.6%
KS avg 38.8%

What this means: On the KAP, Kansas's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Kansas schools, those numbers are about 45 and 39.

KAP results by year

School yearEnglish Language ArtsMath
2024-2524.2%16.6%
2023-2417.4%16.5%
% Meeting + Exceeding, all students and all tested grades. Kansas set new KAP cut scores in spring 2025, so results from 2023-24 and earlier are not comparable with later years.
Source: KAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →

BeatsExpectations

Demographically-adjusted score · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
20.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
19.5%
based on KS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.4pp
above demographic expectation

What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 19% typical for Kansas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Kansas's top nor bottom 10%.

BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →

Schools most like Cottonwood Elementary School

Cottonwood Elementary School's state test result (20.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Cottonwood Elementary School this school50089.2%20.9%
Sunflower Elementary School
Liberal
57087.2%24.6%
Prairie View Elementary School
Liberal
42688.3%21.5%
Scott Dual Language Magnet
Topeka
40291.5%28.0%
Cloud Elem
Wichita
58094.0%13.7%
Irving Elementary
Wichita
44795.5%16.5%
Matched among Kansas elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.

Where Cottonwood Elementary School ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn KansasIn Seward County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
20.9%#567 of 625N/A
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
16.6%#566 of 625N/A
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
24.2%#587 of 625N/A
Enrollment
ranked largest first
500#74 of 714#2 of 6
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
14.9:1#413 of 539N/A
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
22.2%#478 of 540N/A
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
89.2%#54 of 658#2 of 6
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-3.7%#332 of 377N/A
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.

4-year change

SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25
Enrollment
500
+15 (+3%) vs 2020
-4% since 2010-11, when it was 521
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 14.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-2550033.514.9:189% (446)
2023-245143216.1:188% (451)
2022-234983315.1:187% (434)
2020-214853414.3:187% (424)
2017-185193714.0:185% (440)
2015-166063517.3:174% (451)
2010-115213514.9:169% (361)
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cottonwood Elementary School.

Since 2017-18: students down 4% (519 to 500); teachers down 9% (37 to 33.5).

About Cottonwood Elementary School

Located in Liberal, Kansas, Cottonwood Elementary School is a large elementary school. It had 500 students in 2024-25, spanning kindergarten through 5. Elementary schools in Kansas have about 313 students on average; enrollment here is 60% higher.

Liberal includes 8 schools. Together they enroll 4,653 students.

Hispanic students are 88% of those enrolled at Cottonwood Elementary School. The remaining shares are 8% White. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Seward County's population at about 67%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 22, compared with 70 nationally.

Cottonwood Elementary School lists 33.5 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 14.9 students per teacher. The school's 14.9:1 compares with an average of 13.2:1 for elementary schools in Kansas. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 89% of the student body. That is in line with the 86% average for public schools in Seward County.

Among Kansas public elementary schools, Cottonwood Elementary School outscored 13%, which works out to a D on the allk12 Grade.

The BeatsExpectations prediction for Cottonwood Elementary School is 19.5%, and its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 20.9%.

In the wider Seward County area, median household income comes to about $63,827, roughly 11% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. Seward County counts 10 public schools with about 5,115 students.

Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Liberal Sr High, is about 0.6 miles. There are 7 other public schools within five miles. Of the 9 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Cottonwood Elementary School is 5th on average proficiency.

Cottonwood Elementary School is coded as Town: Remote in federal locale data.

Over 4 years, enrollment increased by 15 students, from 485 to 500.

On allk12, people connected to Cottonwood Elementary School can post about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.

Seward County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
21,486
Census ACS
Median income
$63,827
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
11%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
10
5,115 students

Quick facts

School name
Cottonwood Elementary School
District
Liberal
Address
1100 W. 11th, Liberal, KS 67901
Phone
(620) 604-2700
County
Seward County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
KG–05
Total enrollment
500
Teachers (FTE)
34
Student–teacher ratio
14.9:1
Free and reduced lunch
446 (89%)
Locale
33-Town: Remote
NCES ID
200873001587
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Liberal
Other schools in Liberal
Other Cottonwood Elementary schools

20 other US public schools in 12 states are named Cottonwood Elementary. Cottonwood Elementary School is the 10th largest of the 21.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Cottonwood Elementary School
How many students attend Cottonwood Elementary School?
Cottonwood Elementary School enrolls approximately 500 students in grades KG-05.
Is Cottonwood Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Cottonwood Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Cottonwood Elementary School have?
Cottonwood Elementary School employs 34 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Cottonwood Elementary School?
Student demographics at Cottonwood Elementary School are roughly 8% White, 88% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Cottonwood Elementary School?
Cottonwood Elementary School is overseen by Liberal in Seward County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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