Riley Elem

Riley Elem operates as a mid-tier elementary school in Great Bend, Kansas, overseen by Great Bend. Current enrollment sits at 296 students spanning grades pre-K through 6.

Great Bend comprises 7 schools with combined enrollment of 2,876 students; Riley Elem is among them.

On the student-mix side, Riley Elem reports that Hispanic students make up the majority at 75%. The remainder consists of 21% White, 3% multiracial. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 17%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Riley Elem shows 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.5:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 94% of students at Riley Elem qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is higher than Barton County's rate of about 62%.

With demographic context factored in, Riley Elem sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 17.1%; this one delivers 17.7%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Barton County) logs that median household income runs about $58,851, 22% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Barton County's 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,179 students), Riley Elem is one campus in the mix.

Park Elem is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.8 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around Riley Elem. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Riley Elem ranks 8th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 30.9%.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Riley Elem has declined 23%, going from 384 students in 2018 to 296 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share declined from 80% to 75%. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.1:1 in 2018 to 12.5:1 in 2025.

On the community side, members of the Riley Elem community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.