Grand Star Elementary

Grand Star Elementary is an elementary campus of moderately sized scale in Gardner, Kansas, part of Gardner Edgerton, enrolling 380 students in grades pre-K through 4. That puts it 21% above the typical public school in Kansas, which averages around 313 students.

Gardner Edgerton runs 11 schools in total, collectively educating 5,854 students. Grand Star Elementary is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Grand Star Elementary shows that the most-represented group is White (51%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder consists of 33% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 6% Black. By comparison, Johnson County as a whole is about 79% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 36 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 10.4:1. The state averages around 13.2:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 56% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably above Johnson County's rate of about 27%.

With demographic context factored in, Grand Star Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 35.2%; this one delivers 43.2%.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Johnson County put the typical household earns roughly $109,208 per year, roughly 58% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 3% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Johnson County's 168 public schools (combined enrollment of about 93,598 students), Grand Star Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Trail Ridge Middle School, roughly 0.1 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Grand Star Elementary comes 5th of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 42.2%.

Grand Star Elementary operates from a commuter-belt location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 14%: 443 students in 2018 compared to 380 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share contracted from 66% to 51%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 13.8:1 in 2018 to 10.4:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.