← KS High School Explorer

Columbus Junior High and High School

Columbus · KS · Columbus · Public · K-12 combined

📄 Shareable scorecard →

🎓97% 4-yr grad rate

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 1 physics · 4 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 44% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 36% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 97% (90th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Columbus Junior High and High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • LocallyKS sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Riverton High, Baxter Springs High, USD 508 eAcademy and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

📬

Follow Columbus Junior High and High School

Get an email when Columbus Junior High and High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Moderate — some AP / advanced course access

Bottom 44% of US high schools

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
Advanced math classes
3
1 calculus · 2 advanced
Lab science classes
5
1 physics · 4 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 36% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
37
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
12.7
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
97%
Range: 95–100%
4-year cohort size
82
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
5.4%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
31.1%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

55.3%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
3.4%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
15
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
219:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
2.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
22
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 59 in 2021 to 66 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+11.9%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +17.9%/year, projecting from 2024's 438 students:

2025
517
2027
719
2029
999

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $15,214 per student in district revenue, the 561 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $8,535,054/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Riverton High
Riverton
Public 10.4 218 +0.9%
Baxter Springs High
Baxter Springs
Public 11.2 248 -2.0%
USD 508 eAcademy
Baxter Springs
Public 11.2 30
Southeast High
Cherokee
Public 11.8 152 +1.3%
Galena High
Galena
Public 13.6 236 -7.5%
Oswego Junior-Senior High School
Oswego
Public 14.7 112 +21.7%
Chetopa High
Chetopa
Public 16.0 38
St Marys Colgan Elementary And Jr/Sr High School
Pittsburg
Private 18.8 200 -7.4%

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Columbus Junior High and High School?

Get a personalized College Plan Audit — find Reach, Target, and Safety colleges matched to your kid's GPA, test scores, intended major, and your family's budget. Free.

Start the College Plan Audit →

For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →