1
Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Hays Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
726
Middle
DISTRICT 491 · STATE 402
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HAYS·NCES 200702001321
Hays Middle School
201 W. 29th, Hays, KS 67601 · (785) 623-2450 · Ellis County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL726 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of Kansas public middle schools
- BTest 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 50.5:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
40%
293 students
DISTRICT 43% · STATE 51%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 216 | 30% |
| Grade 7 | 257 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 253 | 35% |
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · STATE 58% · US 70%
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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Hays Middle School→Hays High
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Hays. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
KAP 2024-25 . % Meeting + ExceedingEnglish Language Arts
51.5%
KS avg 44.5%
Math
39.7%
KS avg 38.8%
What this means: On the KAP, Kansas's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 40 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Kansas schools, those numbers are about 45 and 39.
KAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 51.5% | 39.7% |
| 2023-24 | 35.8% | 23.6% |
% 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 · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
35.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.9%
based on KS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% 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 Hays Middle School
Hays Middle School's state test result (35.1% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hays Middle School this school | 726 | 40.4% | 35.1% |
| Seaman Middle School Topeka | 560 | 40.0% | 33.1% |
| Valley Center Middle School Valley Center | 802 | 44.3% | 33.7% |
| Prairie Hills Middle Hutchinson | 532 | 43.2% | 34.9% |
| McPherson Middle School McPherson | 474 | 40.1% | 29.7% |
| Trail Ridge Middle School Gardner | 679 | 44.0% | 34.2% |
Matched among Kansas middle 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 Hays Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.1% | #77 of 192 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #76 of 192 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.5% | #42 of 192 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 726 | #25 of 225 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #154 of 161 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.1% | #123 of 161 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.4% | #131 of 195 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.9% | #27 of 54 |
Ranked against other public middle 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 2024-25Enrollment
726
-28 (-4%) vs 2020
+113% since 1990-91, when it was 341
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 15.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 726 | 45 | 16.1:1 | 40% (293) |
| 2023-24 | 731 | 44.6 | 16.4:1 | 44% (324) |
| 2022-23 | 739 | 41 | 18.0:1 | 45% (332) |
| 2020-21 | 754 | 48 | 15.7:1 | 41% (307) |
| 2017-18 | 679 | 40.3 | 16.8:1 | 41% (277) |
| 2015-16 | 652 | 37 | 17.6:1 | 42% (271) |
| 2010-11 | 433 | 29 | 14.9:1 | 40% (174) |
| 2000-01 | 490 | 38 | 12.9:1 | 23% (111) |
| 1990-91 | 341 | 26 | 13.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hays Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (679 to 726); teachers up 12% (40.3 to 45).
About Hays Middle School
Hays Middle School is a public middle-grades school in Hays, Kansas. The school covers grades 6 through 8 and reported 726 students in 2024-25. On average, middle schools in Kansas enroll around 402, and this school is 81% bigger than that mark.
Hays (7 schools, 3,434 students) runs Hays Middle School.
A large majority of enrollment at Hays Middle School is White, at 81%. Beyond that, enrollment is 12% Hispanic and 5% multiracial. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Hays Middle School scores 33%.
The school had 45 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 16.1:1. Across middle schools in Kansas, the average ratio is 12.7:1. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 40%. Public schools in Ellis County average a similar 41%.
On the allk12 Grade, Hays Middle School lands at B-, ahead of 50% of Kansas public middle schools.
Hays Middle School's average proficiency rate across its state test results of 35.1% is 7.8 points below the 42.9% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
For the population of Ellis County, the median household earns about $63,084 a year, about 39% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Across Ellis County, 11 public schools serve about 4,040 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Woodrow Wilson Elem, is about 0.1 miles. Around the school, 6 other public schools are within five miles. On state test proficiency, Hays Middle School ranks 7th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
Hays Middle School has an NCES locale of Town: Remote.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 726, down from 754 in 2020-21.
On allk12, people connected to Hays Middle School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Ellis County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
28,920
Census ACS
Median income
$63,084
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
11
4,040 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Hays
- Hays HighHigh · 1,017 students
- Roosevelt ElemElementary · 420 students
- Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy ElemElementary · 371 students
- Woodrow Wilson ElemElementary · 364 students
- Lincoln ElemElementary · 274 students
- Hays Virtual SchoolCombined · 262 students
Other schools in Hays
- Hays HighHigh · 1,017 students
- Roosevelt ElemElementary · 420 students
- Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy ElemElementary · 371 students
- Woodrow Wilson ElemElementary · 364 students
- Lincoln ElemElementary · 274 students
- Hays Virtual SchoolCombined · 262 students
Nearby schools
- Woodrow Wilson Elem0.1 mi · 364
- Lincoln Elem0.7 mi · 274
- Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy Elem1.1 mi · 371
- Roosevelt Elem1.2 mi · 420
- Hays Virtual School1.4 mi · 262
- Hays High2.0 mi · 1,017
Frequently asked questions
About Hays Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Hays Middle School?
Hays Middle School enrolls approximately 726 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Hays Middle School serve?
Hays Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Hays Middle School have?
Hays Middle School employs 45 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Hays Middle School?
Student demographics at Hays Middle School are roughly 81% White, 12% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Hays Middle School?
Hays Middle School is overseen by Hays in Ellis County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.