Valley Heights Elem

Located at 508 Chestnut, in Blue Rapids, Kansas, Valley Heights Elem is a micro-enrollment primary school that teaches 120 students (grades 3 through 6), overseen by Valley Heights. By comparison, Kansas's public schools average about 313 students each, so Valley Heights Elem sits 62% below that benchmark.

Across the 3 schools in Valley Heights (398 students total), Valley Heights Elem accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Valley Heights Elem logs that 91% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest reads as 7% Hispanic. That composition is broadly in line with Marshall County as a whole.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Valley Heights Elem reports 9 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.3:1. The state averages about 13.2:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 57% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Marshall County runs at roughly 45%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Valley Heights Elem is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 34.7%; this one delivers 70.5%, a residual of +35.8 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Marshall County indicate median household income runs about $68,419, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Across Marshall County's 9 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,643 students), Valley Heights Elem is one campus in the mix.

Valley Heights Jr/Sr High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 3.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Valley Heights Elem comes 1st of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 47.0%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 18%: 146 students in 2018 compared to 120 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share climbed from 1% to 7%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 14.5:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.