High school (grades 9-12) · Kansas City, MO

Center Sr. High

Federal NCES profile for Center Sr. High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 46/100.

2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 290825000225
0/100100/10046/100
👥 S:T ratio
56
📚 AP courses
40
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
32
📋 Attendance
32
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Center Sr. High earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 71% of Missouri schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Missouri schools.

#3 of 20
high schools in Kansas City · Resource Index
46
Resource Index · Typical
11.1:1
small classes for Missouri
57.8%
free-lunch eligible

Center Sr. High has class sizes smaller than 71% of Missouri schools. Computed live against every Missouri school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Center Sr. High ranks #3 of 20 high schools in Kansas City, MO.

School address

Enrollment

679

Missouri · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

61.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11.1:1

vs 12.8:1 Missouri avg

-13% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

57.8%

vs 46.1% Missouri avg

+25% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Center Sr. High compares with Missouri and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Center Sr. High

Center Sr. High is a higher-need, large high school in Kansas City, Missouri, enrolling 679 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.1:1 puts it in the smaller third of Missouri schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 57.8% of students eligible for free meals.

Enrollment of 679 puts it in the larger third of Missouri schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 2,313 scored Missouri schools.

Against 125 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #47.

Its student body is led by African American (62%) and White (15%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 57/100).

On the academic-pipeline side it reports 8 Advanced Placement courses.

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 340 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 27.4% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

The surrounding Center 58 spends $16,648 per pupil, 29% above the Missouri average, a better-resourced district than most.

Its district draws 20.7% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Discipline events run high: 283 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 679 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

The federal civil-rights collection also records 1 expulsion at this campus for 2021-22.

Among Kansas City's high schools, it stands alongside Ewing Marion Kauffman High (402 students): Center Sr. High is larger than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (11.1:1 vs 11.8:1).

Center 58 also operates Center Middle (493 students) and Center Elem. (314 students) alongside Center Sr. High.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Center Sr. High compares

Center Sr. High on the metrics families compare, against Missouri and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Missouri Missouri avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 11.1:1 ▼ 13% 12.8:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 57.8% ▲ 25% 46.1% 51.7%
Enrollment 679 top 11% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

11.1:1
Leaner classes than 82% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
679
Bigger than 79% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
57.8%
free-lunch eligible - 25% above the Missouri average of 46.1%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
11.1:1
students per teacher - 13% below state mean
Top 29% in Missouri - lower ratio than 71% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
27.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$16,648
per pupil, district-wide - above Missouri avg of $12,931
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 340 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
205
in-school suspensions + 78 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 30.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 41.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 1 expulsion.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

African American 61.6%
White 15.2%
Hispanic or Latino 12.4%
Two or More 9.6%
Asian 0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%

Largest group: African American at 61.6% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 57.3/100

Simpson diversity index - at 57.3, Center Sr. High is more mixed than the Missouri school average of 31.0.

Programs

AP courses offered 8
Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Center 58, which includes Center Sr. High.

$16,648
Per student
+29%
vs Missouri
Avg $12,931
+0%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 68.3%
State 11.0%
Federal 20.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Center Sr. High Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Center Middle Smaller Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Center Elem. Smaller Higher economic need Similar S:T ratio
Indian Creek Elem. Smaller Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio
Boone Elem. Smaller Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Red Bridge Elem. Smaller Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Center Sr. High's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Center 58 · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar high schools in Kansas City

2 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.

Similar high schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Missouri, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Center Sr. High's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Center Sr. High

How many students attend Center Sr. High?

Center Sr. High has 679 students enrolled. It is a high school in Kansas City, MO.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Center Sr. High?

The student-teacher ratio at Center Sr. High is 11.1:1, which is 13% lower than the Missouri average of 12.8:1 and 29% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Center Sr. High?

57.8% of students at Center Sr. High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Missouri average of 46.1%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Center Sr. High?

The largest demographic group at Center Sr. High is African American at 61.6% of enrollment, in Kansas City, MO. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 57.3/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Center Sr. High?

Center Sr. High has a Resource Investment Index of 46/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Center Sr. High rank among high schools in Kansas City?

By Resource Investment Index, Center Sr. High ranks #3 of 20 high schools in Kansas City, MO. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all high schools in Kansas City on the city page.

Is Center Sr. High a good school?

Center Sr. High earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 71% of Missouri schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Missouri schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Center 58?

Besides Center Sr. High, Center 58 also operates Center Middle (493 students), Center Elem. (314 students), and Indian Creek Elem. (285 students). See the Center 58 district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.