Horizon Elementary

Horizon Elementary is an elementary-level community of middle-of-the-pack scale in Shawnee, Kansas, one of the schools within De Soto, hosting 351 students in grades pre-K through 5.

Within De Soto, which oversees 13 schools and 7,067 students, Horizon Elementary is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Horizon Elementary shows that 79% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 8% multiracial, 6% Black, 3% Hispanic, 3% Asian. That composition is broadly in line with Johnson County as a whole.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Horizon Elementary has 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.9:1. The state averages around 13.2:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 20% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Horizon Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 52.5%, the actual is 63.9%, a residual of +11.3 points.

Across the wider county, Johnson County reports that the typical household earns roughly $109,208 per year, 58% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 3% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Horizon Elementary is one of 168 public schools in Johnson County (combined enrollment of about 93,598 students).

The closest other public school is Monticello Trails Middle School, roughly 1.4 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Horizon Elementary ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 59.0%.

The school occupies an outer-ring site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Horizon Elementary has decreased 26%, going from 473 students in 2018 to 351 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 85% to 79%. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 14.2:1 in 2018 to 11.9:1 today.

On allk12, the feed for Horizon Elementary typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.