Enrollment
76
Kansas · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Alta Vista, KS
Prairie Heights Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Prairie Heights Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 59/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 200528000985
👥 S:T ratio 66
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 80
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Prairie Heights Elementary School earns 59/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 94% of Kansas schools.
- 59
- Resource Index · Higher
- 8.4:1
- small classes for Kansas
- 44.7%
- free-lunch eligible
- 76
- students enrolled
Prairie Heights Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 94% of Kansas schools. Computed live against every Kansas school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Morris County · Kansas
NCES ID 200528000985 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
9.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
8.4:1
vs 13.8:1 Kansas avg
-39% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
44.7%
vs 42.7% Kansas avg
+5% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Prairie Heights Elementary School compares with Kansas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Prairie Heights Elementary School
Prairie Heights Elementary School is a small elementary school in Alta Vista, Kansas, enrolling 76 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 8.4:1, Prairie Heights Elementary School is leaner than roughly 94% of Kansas schools and 39% under the state's 13.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 44.7% lands close to the Kansas typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 76 puts it in the smaller third of Kansas schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,346 scored Kansas schools.
Against 81 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #20.
Its student body is predominantly White (92% of enrollment) (diversity index 15/100).
Attendance holds up well here: only 7.9% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
Morris County also operates Council Grove Junior Senior High School (368 students) and Council Grove Elementary School (318 students) alongside Prairie Heights Elementary School.
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 Prairie Heights Elementary School compares
Prairie Heights Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Kansas and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Kansas | Kansas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 8.4:1 | ▼ 39% | 13.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 44.7% | ▲ 5% | 42.7% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 76 | top 88% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
8.4:1
Leaner classes than 94% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
76
Bigger than 8% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
44.7%
free-lunch eligible
- 5% above the Kansas average of 42.7%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
8.4:1
students per teacher
- 39% below state mean
Top 6% in Kansas - lower ratio than 94% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
7.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$14,275
per pupil, district-wide
- below Kansas avg of $15,487
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
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
White 92.1%
Hispanic or Latino 5.3%
Two or More 2.6%
Largest group: White at 92.1% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 14.8/100
Simpson diversity index - at 14.8, Prairie Heights Elementary School is less mixed than the Kansas school average of 39.4.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Morris County, which includes Prairie Heights Elementary School.
$14,275
Per student
-8%
vs Kansas
Avg $15,487
-14%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 23.9%
State 66.1%
Federal 10.1%
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 Prairie Heights Elementary School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Council Grove Junior Senior High School | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Council Grove Elementary School | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Prairie Heights Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 368
- Students per teacher
- 12.7:1
- Resource Index
- 49/100
- Enrollment
- 318
- Students per teacher
- 12.2:1
- Resource Index
- 56/100
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Kansas, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~76 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Prairie Heights Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Prairie Heights Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Morris County's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
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 Prairie Heights Elementary School
How many students attend Prairie Heights Elementary School?
Prairie Heights Elementary School has 76 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Alta Vista, KS.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie Heights Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Prairie Heights Elementary School is 8.4:1, which is 39% lower than the Kansas average of 13.8:1 and 46% 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 Prairie Heights Elementary School?
44.7% of students at Prairie Heights Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Kansas average of 42.7%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Prairie Heights Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Prairie Heights Elementary School is White at 92.1% of enrollment, in Alta Vista, KS.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Prairie Heights Elementary School?
Prairie Heights Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 59/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Prairie Heights Elementary School a good school?
Prairie Heights Elementary School earns 59/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 94% of Kansas 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 Morris County?
Besides Prairie Heights Elementary School, Morris County also operates Council Grove Junior Senior High School (368 students) and Council Grove Elementary School (318 students). See the Morris County district page for the complete list.
Related tools
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.