Marais Des Cygnes Valley High

Marais Des Cygnes Valley High is one of the tiny senior highs in Melvern, Kansas, one of the schools within Marais Des Cygnes Valley, with 53 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. That puts it 87% leaner than the typical public school in Kansas, which averages around 410 students.

Across the 3 schools in Marais Des Cygnes Valley (175 students total), Marais Des Cygnes Valley High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, Marais Des Cygnes Valley High reports that the student body is overwhelmingly White (91%); the rest is composed of 6% multiracial. Compared to Osage County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Marais Des Cygnes Valley High shows 6 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 8.8:1. The state averages around 11.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 60% of students at Marais Des Cygnes Valley High qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Osage County runs at roughly 48%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Marais Des Cygnes Valley High sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 33.3%; this one delivers 33.1%.

Zooming out to the county, Osage County reports that median household income runs about $74,467, about 22% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Osage County's 13 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,587 students), Marais Des Cygnes Valley High is one campus in the mix.

Marais Des Cygnes Valley Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 7 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Marais Des Cygnes Valley High ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 37.9%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Five-year trend. Marais Des Cygnes Valley High's enrollment has declined 12% since 2018, when it stood at 60 (now 53). The Hispanic share of enrollment shrank from 10% to 2% over that span. Class-load math has loosened: from 6.9:1 in 2018 to 8.8:1 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for Marais Des Cygnes Valley High typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.