5 public K-12 schools in Clay Center from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
5 public schools ranked by quality score. NCES CCD 2024-25 data.
The highest-ranked of Clay Center's 5 public schools is Lincoln Elem, scoring 53/100, against a city average of 55/100. Computed live across every Clay Center campus reporting to NCES.
How the Clay Center Public-School Landscape Breaks Down
Clay Center, KS enrolls 1,069 students across 5 public schools reporting to the National Center for Education Statistics. The average student-teacher ratio across the city is 12.7:1, and the composite quality score, derived from student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted-program availability, and CRDC attendance data, averages 55/100. Schools must report at least five campuses in a city to appear in this listing, which is why very small towns may redirect to the broader county or state view.
The most-resourced campus in Clay Center on this index is Lincoln Elem, at 53/100 on the Resource Investment Index with 341 enrolled students. What the index does and doesn't measure; click any school below for its full component breakdown.
Clay Center spans 1 district, each filing its own NCES F-33 return, per-pupil spending can vary between neighbouring campuses. Sort the table below by enrollment, level, or district; click any school for its full profile.
Lincoln Elem accounts for 31.9% of all Clay Center public-school enrollment
That dominant concentration means Clay Center-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade level: Combined. A dominant campus often anchors a city's program landscape and absorbs a disproportionate share of district capital and staffing decisions. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Clay Center school enrollment varies 57× across entities
Clay Center school enrollment ranges from 6 students (lowest) to 341 students (highest), a spread of 335 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, small specialty programs sit alongside large comprehensive campuses, often serving very different family demographics inside walking distance. Per-school staffing, programme depth, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same city based on enrollment shape, a 200-student magnet runs a different operational model than a 2,000-student comprehensive high school.
Clay Center operates only 1 school district — one of the single most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Clay Center school districts are a single unified district covering the whole city, a structural feature that simplifies inter-school comparison but concentrates policy authority, and the count here is near the floor observed nationally. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across a large population, but it can also mask intra-school district inequities — sub-school district differences within a single school district are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Clay Center student-teacher ratio is 12.7:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
The highest-ranked school in Clay Center is Lincoln Elem with a quality score of 53/100. There are 5 public schools in Clay Center with 1,069 total students.
How many schools are in Clay Center, KS? ▼
Clay Center has 5 public schools with a total enrollment of 1,069 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 12.7:1.
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. Quality scores based on student-teacher ratio,
counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance. Schools must have 5+ in the city to be listed.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Read our methodology, which explains how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
