Enrollment
438
Kansas · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 201200000994
Prairie Star Middle — Leawood, KS
Federal NCES profile for Prairie Star Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 63/100.
👥 Class size 52
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 56
📋 Attendance 75
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Blue Valley · Kansas
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
37.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12:1
vs 14.4:1 Kansas avg
-17% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
5.6%
vs 42.7% Kansas avg
-87% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Prairie Star Middle compares with Kansas and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Prairie Star Middle reports 438 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 37.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 12:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 17% below the Kansas state mean of 14.4:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 25% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 5.6% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 87% below the Kansas average and 89% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 219 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 10.0% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Blue Valley spends $16,186 per pupil district-wide, below the Kansas average of $17,342 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 47.9% from local sources (property taxes), 47.4% from the state, and 4.7% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 63/100 (C+), calculated from 4 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Prairie Star Middle compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Kansas state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Kansas | Kansas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12:1 | ▼ 17% | 14.4:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 5.6% | ▼ 87% | 42.7% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 438 | top 76% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
5.6%
free-lunch eligible
— 87% below the Kansas average of 42.7%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
12:1
students per teacher
— 17% below state mean
Top 27% in Kansas — lower ratio than 73% of state schools
Below the 15:1 benchmark — typical of schools with smaller class sizes and more individualized attention.
Engagement
10.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$16,186
per pupil, district-wide
— below Kansas avg of $17,342
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 219 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
4
in-school suspensions + 11 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 438 Top 76% in Kansas — larger than 24% of 1,354 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 37.0
Students per teacher 12:1 -17% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 5.6% -87% vs state
NCES ID 201200000994
Student demographics
White 74.4%
Asian 14.6%
Hispanic or Latino 5.0%
Two or More 4.6%
African American 1.4%
Largest group: White at 74.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 219:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 10.0%
In-school suspensions 4
Out-of-school suspensions 11
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Blue Valley, which includes Prairie Star Middle.
$16,186
Per student
-7%
vs Kansas
Avg $17,342
-17%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 47.9%
State 47.4%
Federal 4.7%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,534
- Students per teacher
- 15:1
- Enrollment
- 1,496
- Students per teacher
- 14:1
- Enrollment
- 1,396
- Students per teacher
- 15.9:1
- Enrollment
- 1,376
- Students per teacher
- 15.2:1
- Enrollment
- 1,057
- Students per teacher
- 13.9:1
Similar middle schools in Leawood
1 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Prairie Star Middle
How many students attend Prairie Star Middle?
Prairie Star Middle has 438 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Leawood, KS.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie Star Middle?
The student-teacher ratio at Prairie Star Middle is 12:1, which is 17% lower than the Kansas average of 14.4:1 and 25% lower than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Prairie Star Middle?
5.6% of students at Prairie Star Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Kansas average of 42.7%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Prairie Star Middle?
The largest demographic group at Prairie Star Middle is White at 74.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in Leawood, KS.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Prairie Star Middle?
Prairie Star Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 63/100 (C+) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.