West Elk Schools

Set in Howard, Kansas, West Elk Schools is an average-sized unified-grade school, part of West Elk. It caters to 371 students across grades pre-K through 12.

West Elk runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 597 students. West Elk Schools is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, West Elk Schools shows that the largest single group is White, at 80% of enrollment. Other groups include 12% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 4% Native American. By comparison, Elk County as a whole is about 88% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.8:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 49.0:1 average. Roughly 68% of students at West Elk Schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

With demographic context factored in, West Elk Schools tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 29.7% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 34.5%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Elk County) records that median household earnings sit near $64,609, 22% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. In all, Elk County runs 5 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,563 students), of which West Elk Schools is one.

The closest other public school is West Elk Virtual Academy, roughly 0.1 miles away. On composite proficiency, West Elk Schools comes 2nd of 6 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 30.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at West Elk Schools has stayed largely flat, going from 373 students in 2018 to 371 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.