Best Public Schools in Salina, KS

Summary:

The city of Salina, Kansas is home to 14 schools serving grades K-12, including 9 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 3 high schools. The schools are part of the Salina school district, which is ranked 178 out of 266 districts in Kansas and is rated 2 stars out of 5 by SchoolDigger.

Within the Salina school district, a few schools stand out as performing well compared to the district and state averages. Meadowlark Ridge Elementary ranks 127 out of 653 Kansas elementary schools and is rated 4 out of 5 stars, with significantly higher proficiency rates than the district and state in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. Stewart Elementary also performs well, ranking 245 out of 653 Kansas elementary schools and exceeding the state averages in all subject areas. At the high school level, Salina High South stands out, ranking 136 out of 318 Kansas high schools and outperforming the district and state in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

However, the data also reveals significant disparities in academic performance across the Salina schools. Schools with the highest rates of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, such as Schilling Elementary, Cottonwood Elementary School, and Sunset Elementary, tend to have lower proficiency rates compared to the district and state averages. Additionally, some schools have seen their rankings and ratings decline over time, indicating potential challenges in maintaining academic performance.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2024)				Ranking (2023)				KAP English Language Arts (2024)								KAP Mathematics (2024)								KAP Science (2024)				Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	Rank Change from Previous Year	KAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	KAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 6th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 7th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 8th Grade	KAP English Language Arts 10th Grade	KAP English Language Arts All Grades	KAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	KAP Mathematics 4th Grade	KAP Mathematics 5th Grade	KAP Mathematics 6th Grade	KAP Mathematics 7th Grade	KAP Mathematics 8th Grade	KAP Mathematics 10th Grade	KAP Mathematics All Grades	KAP Science 5th Grade	KAP Science 8th Grade	KAP Science 11th Grade	KAP Science All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Coronado Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2725 Ray Ave	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4100	394	33	11.8	46.7%	233 (59.1%)	12 (3.0%)	107 (27.2%)	12 (3.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.4%)	44.9	377^th of 653 public elementary schools	42.3%		53.1	301^st of 660 public elementary schools	54.4%	76	23.0	45.9	36.1					34.2	32.4	39.3	42.8					37.9	42.9			42.9	$11,704	$2,295	$9,409
Heusner Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1300 Norton	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4200	414	31	13.3	59.7%	275 (66.4%)	13 (3.1%)	79 (19.1%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (10.6%)	41.8	401^st of 653 public elementary schools	38.6%		42.5	386^th of 660 public elementary schools	41.5%	15	37.1	38.2	34.3					36.4	48.4	34.5	32.3					38.4	29.4			29.4	$11,828	$3,018	$8,810
Meadowlark Ridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2200 Glen Ave	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4300	409	30	13.4	34.2%	291 (71.1%)	11 (2.7%)	68 (16.6%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (8.8%)	74.1	127^th of 653 public elementary schools	80.6%		73.5	137^th of 660 public elementary schools	79.2%	10	54.9	61.3	41.8					52.6	63.4	53.2	47.1					55.2	48.5			48.5	$10,847	$2,197	$8,650
Oakdale Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	811 E Iron	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4310	290	23	12.6	82.1%	162 (55.9%)	13 (4.5%)	56 (19.3%)	7 (2.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (17.6%)	18.9	554^th of 653 public elementary schools	15.2%		20.2	552^nd of 660 public elementary schools	16.4%	2	27.7	25.0	24.1					25.5	34.8	9.7	22.2					22.7	16.7			16.7	$13,456	$3,528	$9,928
Stewart Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2123 Roach	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4450	417	30	13.9	41.7%	270 (64.7%)	6 (1.4%)	91 (21.8%)	11 (2.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (9.1%)	59.7	245^th of 653 public elementary schools	62.5%		66	186^th of 660 public elementary schools	71.8%	59	38.3	43.4	43.5					42.0	55.7	36.8	39.1					43.2	58.0			58.0	$11,558	$2,307	$9,251
Sunset Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1510 W Republic	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4520	387	33	11.7	79.6%	191 (49.4%)	9 (2.3%)	127 (32.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (15.0%)	16.3	572^nd of 653 public elementary schools	12.4%		16.4	574^th of 660 public elementary schools	13.0%	2	19.4	22.0	20.4					20.4	27.4	22.0	20.0					23.6	21.4			21.4	$12,870	$3,315	$9,555
Cottonwood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	215 S Phillips	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4600	372	33	11.3	82.0%	190 (51.1%)	22 (5.9%)	92 (24.7%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (17.5%)	48.8	340^th of 653 public elementary schools	47.9%		31.5	481^st of 660 public elementary schools	27.1%	141	30.0	39.5	48.8					39.5	40.5	23.3	47.6					37.0	47.6			47.6	$12,523	$3,413	$9,111
Lakewood Middle School	Public	6-8	1135 Lakewood Cir	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-4000	688	55	12.5	65.3%	428 (62.2%)	33 (4.8%)	142 (20.6%)	10 (1.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	73 (10.6%)	41.9	194^th of 362 public middle schools	46.4%		42.3	198^th of 362 public middle schools	45.3%	4				26.1	27.9	22.8		25.6				21.9	27.5	22.3		24.0		22.2		22.2	$10,507	$788	$9,719
Salina South Middle	Public	6-8	2015 Simmons	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-3900	811	59	13.8	62.3%	429 (52.9%)	18 (2.2%)	267 (32.9%)	24 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	72 (8.9%)	49.1	156^th of 362 public middle schools	56.9%		50.6	143^rd of 362 public middle schools	60.5%	13				32.7	36.1	20.1		29.6				29.3	26.9	27.2		27.8		20.2		20.2	$9,944	$748	$9,195
Salina High Central	Public	9-12	650 E Crawford	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-3500	944	69	13.7	57.4%	596 (63.1%)	43 (4.6%)	188 (19.9%)	12 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	104 (11.0%)	33.7	229^th of 318 public high schools	28.0%		56.1	128^th of 327 public high schools	60.9%	101							19.0	19.0							12.5	12.5			29.9	29.9	$11,038	$845	$10,192
Salina High South	Public	9-12	730 E Magnolia Rd	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	No	(785) 309-3700	1,102	74	14.9	53.7%	609 (55.3%)	25 (2.3%)	333 (30.2%)	51 (4.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	82 (7.4%)	53.9	136^th of 318 public high schools	57.2%		59	120^th of 327 public high schools	63.3%	16							30.9	30.9							15.1	15.1			35.1	35.1	$10,862	$809	$10,052
Schilling Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3121 Canterbury	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 309-4400	408	36	11.4	82.1%	159 (39.0%)	10 (2.5%)	185 (45.3%)	10 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	43 (10.5%)	26.9	504^th of 653 public elementary schools	22.8%		28.4	497^th of 660 public elementary schools	24.7%	7	17.0	19.6	43.3					27.4	23.6	18.9	31.7					25.1	34.4			34.4	$12,774	$3,271	$9,503
Salina Virtual Innovation Academy	Public, Virtual	6-12	811 E Iron	Salina	67401	Saline County	Salina	No	No	Yes	No	(785) 309-4369	88	6	16.0	3.4%	54 (61.4%)	1 (1.1%)	23 (26.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (10.2%)								(n/a)
Ell-Saline Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	1757 N Halstead Rd	Salina	67401	Saline County	Ell-Saline	No	No	No	Yes	(785) 827-8891	236	16	15.1	45.3%	215 (91.1%)	2 (0.8%)	17 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	29.6	483^rd of 653 public elementary schools	26.0%		32.7	474^th of 660 public elementary schools	28.2%	9	24.0	33.3	19.1	38.7				27.9	36.0	17.6	6.5	40.6				22.6	29.8			29.8	$11,289	$1,107	$10,182

Cities Near Salina

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Gypsum	10.12 mi	2	83^rd
Brookville	13.74 mi	1	134^th
Bennington	14.03 mi	2	137^th
Solomon	14.73 mi	2	283^rd
Lindsborg	17.79 mi	4	178^th

See the top KS Kansas cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kansas State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.