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Alumni: what's one memory from McPherson High that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
658
High
DISTRICT 353 · STATE 410
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MCPHERSON·NCES 200939000999
McPherson High
801 E First Street, McPherson, KS 67460 · (620) 241-9500 · McPherson County
GRADES 09–12HIGH33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL658 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 22% of Kansas public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
55 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.6:1 · STATE 11.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
40%
265 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 51%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 154 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 173 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 163 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 168 | 26% |
Student demographics
40%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within McPherson. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
KAP 2024-25 . % Meeting + ExceedingEnglish Language Arts
32.7%
KS avg 44.5%
Math
35.7%
KS avg 38.8%
What this means: On the KAP, Kansas's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 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 | 32.7% | 35.7% |
| 2023-24 | 24.4% | 23.7% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of KS schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
24.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.9%
based on KS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-18.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 43% typical for Kansas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 McPherson High
McPherson High's state test result (24.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McPherson High this school | 658 | 40.3% | 24.9% |
| Valley Center High Valley Center | 1,011 | 41.3% | 30.2% |
| Hays High Hays | 1,017 | 41.4% | 36.8% |
| Augusta Sr High Augusta | 594 | 41.4% | 20.3% |
| Goodland Jr-Sr. High School Goodland | 388 | 43.3% | 21.7% |
| Abilene High School Abilene | 443 | 43.3% | 27.2% |
Matched among Kansas high 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 McPherson High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 24.9% | #176 of 262 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.7% | #120 of 262 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.7% | #181 of 262 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 658 | #72 of 332 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #65 of 172 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 40.0% | #77 of 172 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.3% | #156 of 263 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -13.3% | #25 of 100 |
Ranked against other public high 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
658
-57 (-8%) vs 2020
-2% since 1990-91, when it was 674
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 14.6:1
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 | 658 | 54.7 | 12.0:1 | 40% (265) |
| 2023-24 | 692 | 53.5 | 12.9:1 | 41% (282) |
| 2022-23 | 709 | 51.8 | 13.7:1 | 36% (255) |
| 2020-21 | 715 | 49 | 14.6:1 | 34% (244) |
| 2017-18 | 759 | 56.6 | 13.4:1 | 34% (255) |
| 2015-16 | 770 | 52 | 14.8:1 | 33% (254) |
| 2010-11 | 789 | 41 | 19.2:1 | 27% (215) |
| 2000-01 | 976 | 69 | 14.1:1 | 12% (119) |
| 1990-91 | 674 | 5 | 134.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McPherson High.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (759 to 658); teachers down 3% (56.6 to 54.7).
About McPherson High
McPherson High is a large high school in McPherson, Kansas. The school offers grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 658 students. That puts enrollment 60% bigger than the 410-student average for high schools in Kansas.
Besides McPherson High, McPherson runs 5 other schools. The district enrolls 2,117 students.
More than half of the students at McPherson High are White (75%). The school is also 16% Hispanic and 7% multiracial. That is lower than the 92% White share among all McPherson County residents. A diversity index of 40% means there is a 40% chance two randomly chosen students at McPherson High are from different groups.
Based on 54.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, McPherson High has a ratio of 12.0:1. The average for high schools in Kansas is about 11.9:1. Income data for the school show 40% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in McPherson County average a similar 40%.
Among Kansas public high schools, McPherson High outscored 22%, which works out to a C- on the allk12 Grade.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 42.9% for McPherson High, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 24.9%. The 18.1-point gap ranks in the bottom 10% of Kansas schools.
In McPherson County, home to about 30,205 people, the median household earns about $78,851 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 34% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Public schools in McPherson County number 18, with about 4,829 students.
McPherson High's closest public school neighbor is Lincoln Elem, about 0.5 miles away. The five-mile area around McPherson High holds 5 other public schools. McPherson High's average proficiency of 24.9% compares with 37.6% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Federal records code the school's setting as Town: Remote.
Enrollment was 658 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 715. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 14.6:1 to 12.0:1.
The McPherson High discussion page is a place for open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
McPherson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
30,205
Census ACS
Median income
$78,851
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
18
4,829 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in McPherson
- McPherson Middle SchoolMiddle · 474 students
- Roosevelt ElemElementary · 269 students
- Washington ElemElementary · 256 students
- Eisenhower ElementaryElementary · 239 students
- Lincoln ElemElementary · 221 students
Other schools in McPherson
- McPherson Middle SchoolMiddle · 474 students
- Roosevelt ElemElementary · 269 students
- Washington ElemElementary · 256 students
- Eisenhower ElementaryElementary · 239 students
- Lincoln ElemElementary · 221 students
Nearby schools
- Lincoln Elem0.5 mi · 221
- Washington Elem0.6 mi · 256
- McPherson Middle School0.8 mi · 474
- Eisenhower Elementary1.3 mi · 239
- Roosevelt Elem1.5 mi · 269
- Canton-Galva Elementary6.2 mi · 193
Frequently asked questions
About McPherson HighHow many students attend McPherson High?
McPherson High enrolls approximately 658 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does McPherson High serve?
McPherson High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at McPherson High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at McPherson High is approximately 12.0:1 (55 FTE teachers).
How diverse is McPherson High?
McPherson High reports a student body of 75% White, 16% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees McPherson High?
McPherson High is overseen by McPherson in McPherson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.