Highland Park Central

Summary:

Highland Park Central is an elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, serving 308 students in grades PK-5. The school is part of the Topeka Public Schools district, which is ranked 245 out of 266 districts in the state and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Highland Park Central has consistently ranked in the bottom 10% of Kansas elementary schools over the past several years, with a ranking between 577 and 666 out of around 650-670 schools. The school significantly underperforms the state and district averages in proficiency rates for English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science across all grade levels. For example, in 2023-2024, only 21.73% of Highland Park Central students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 33.55% statewide and 21.33% for the Topeka district. The school's mathematics proficiency rate of 9.08% in 2023-2024 is less than a third of the state average of 31.6%. This pattern of underperformance has persisted over the past several years, with Highland Park Central consistently ranking in the bottom 10-15% of Kansas elementary schools in academic achievement.

Highland Park Central serves a student population that is predominantly economically disadvantaged, with 91.88% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in 2022-2023. The school has a high percentage of minority students, with 40.58% African American and 35.71% Hispanic students in 2023-2024. These demographic factors likely contribute to the school's academic challenges. Nearby schools in the Topeka Public Schools district, such as Jardine Elementary, Lowman Hill Elementary, and Randolph Elementary, generally outperform Highland Park Central in academic achievement, suggesting that factors beyond just student demographics may be contributing to the performance gap.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 2717 SE Illinois Ave
       Topeka, KS  66605


(785) 235-7000

District: Topeka Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
601st of 653 Kansas Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $12,572 Help


Students who attend Highland Park Central usually attend:

High:    Highland Park High

Student/teacher ratio:  12.3 Help
Number of students:  308

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
44.2%
White:
19.8%
African American:
19.2%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  92.5% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Highland Park Central ranks worse than 92% of elementary schools in Kansas. It also ranks 11th among 14 ranked elementary schools in the Topeka Public Schools District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 10.77. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Student population at Highland Park Central is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (44.2%), White (19.8%), African American (19.2%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 92.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Highland Park Central is 12.3, which is the 6th best among 14 elementary schools in the Topeka Public Schools District. (See more...)
Help
Compare Highland Park Central employs 24.9 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at Highland Park Central is $12,572. 9 elementary schools in the Topeka Public Schools District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Highland Park Central:

SchoolDigger ranks Highland Park Central 601st of 653 Kansas public elementary schools. (See Highland Park Central in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:


Topeka Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Topeka Public Schools 245th of 266 Kansas school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Highland Park Central

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Rank History for all students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 31.12 470th 585 19.7%
2007 13.73 549th 600 8.5%
2008 15.56 561st 614 8.6%
2009 22.24 540th 621 13.0%
2010 10.87 588th 630 6.7%
2011 10.59 597th 631 5.4%
2012 6.82 632nd 660 4.2%
2013 13.44 606th 668 9.3%
2015 9.74 647th 678 4.6%
2016 17.04 573rd 656 12.7%
2017 15.12 590th 659 10.5%
2018 15.23 577th 656 12.0%
2019 6.77 645th 667 3.3%
2021 4.28 666th 670 0.6%
2022 4.63 664th 668 0.6%
2023 5.04 650th 660 1.5%
2024 10.77 601st 653 8.0%
See the entire list of Kansas Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 40.96 69th 129 46.5%
2019 29.08 99th 122 18.9%
2021 20.53 106th 108 1.9%
2022 21.57 114th 117 2.6%
2023 27.71 101st 117 13.7%
2024 44.13 65th 124 47.6%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 24.30 122nd 140 12.9%
2019 29.45 146th 193 24.4%
2021 27.87 166th 214 22.4%
2022 17.14 286th 305 6.2%
2023 20.80 252nd 296 14.9%
2024 26.61 234th 306 23.5%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 23.88 434th 512 15.2%
2019 15.09 477th 509 6.3%
2022 9.70 507th 512 1.0%
2023 12.49 519th 541 4.1%
2024 18.00 500th 546 8.4%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 11.49 534th 574 7.0%
2019 7.59 576th 591 2.5%
2021 4.50 590th 591 0.2%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 24.30 122nd 140 12.9%
2019 29.45 146th 193 24.4%
2021 27.87 166th 214 22.4%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 22.80 473rd 575 17.7%
2019 8.98 564th 586 3.8%
2021 6.62 596th 605 1.5%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 31.03 47th 65 27.7%
2019 19.49 64th 73 12.3%
2022 19.29 65th 68 4.4%
2023 24.99 68th 74 8.1%
2024 41.81 40th 72 44.4%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 36.56 140th 207 32.4%
2019 17.49 222nd 235 5.5%
2021 12.00 227th 229 0.9%
2022 13.34 251st 254 1.2%
2023 17.92 232nd 245 5.3%
2024 27.99 210th 260 19.2%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Highland Park Central

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools KS State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 33.21 422nd 574 26.5%
2019 13.76 546th 592 7.8%
2022 7.16 576th 596 3.4%
See the entire list of Best Kansas Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Kansas State Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Highland Park Central Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Kansas State Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 4)
0%

100%

0%

0%

0%

  

Reviews:
No reviews have been submitted!


Enrollment information for Highland Park Central

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 257 144 1 13 2 n/a n/a 0 417
1989 258 147 2 16 5 n/a n/a 0 428
1990 282 149 2 19 4 n/a n/a 0 456
1991 274 144 1 18 10 n/a n/a 0 447
1992 237 110 2 12 23 n/a n/a 0 384
1993 216 122 1 19 14 n/a n/a 0 372
1994 200 115 4 26 14 n/a n/a 0 359
1995 163 113 3 27 11 n/a n/a 0 317
1996 163 113 3 27 11 n/a n/a 0 317
1997 192 141 3 24 6 n/a n/a 0 366
1998 177 122 7 26 16 n/a n/a 0 348
1999 174 120 4 32 11 n/a n/a 0 341
2000 151 130 2 31 9 n/a n/a 0 323
2001 158 136 2 34 10 n/a n/a 0 340
2002 150 134 3 41 18 n/a n/a 0 346
2003 150 134 3 41 18 n/a n/a 0 346
2004 122 123 2 41 13 n/a n/a 47 348
2005 126 132 2 50 10 n/a n/a 44 364
2006 111 120 2 53 9 n/a n/a 32 327
2007 97 109 2 63 6 n/a n/a 7 284
2008 114 119 2 82 6 n/a n/a 8 331
2009 114 137 1 107 6 n/a n/a 9 374
2010 107 113 2 118 2 0 24 0 366
2011 125 106 0 98 22 0 37 0 388
2012 93 109 2 143 4 1 41 0 393
2013 91 107 2 134 4 1 35 0 374
2014 98 101 2 122 7 1 36 0 367
2015 104 92 2 121 5 0 32 0 356
2016 108 77 3 114 3 0 38 0 343
2017 98 88 2 135 1 0 34 0 358
2018 91 91 4 134 1 0 27 0 348
2019 83 112 3 139 0 0 27 0 364
2020 70 94 1 140 2 0 42 0 349
2021 69 70 1 120 3 0 34 0 297
2022 80 71 0 122 7 2 44 0 326
2023 68 72 1 119 6 2 40 0 308
2024 61 59 0 136 4 0 48 0 308

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Highland Park Central

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 417 23.0 18.1 0
1989 428 28.0 15.2 n/a
1990 456 29.8 15.3 0
1991 447 26.5 16.8 n/a
1992 384 29.9 12.8 68.5
1993 372 26.0 14.3 59.7
1994 359 25.6 14.0 64.9
1995 317 24.0 13.2 56.8
1996 317 24.0 13.2 56.8
1997 366 18.8 19.5 75.7
1998 348 28.0 12.4 79
1999 341 17.5 19.5 80.9
2000 323 25.5 12.7 83.6
2001 340 26.0 13.1 81.8
2002 346 25.0 13.8 86.1
2003 346 25.0 13.8 86.1
2004 348 27.2 12.8 94
2005 364 28.5 12.8 94.4
2006 327 37.0 8.8 94.6
2007 284 33.2 8.6 88.8
2008 331 28.8 11.5 85.1
2009 374 31.2 12.0 89.9
2010 366 30.7 11.9 92.3
2011 388 28.6 13.5 92.5
2012 393 36.6 10.7 95.2
2013 374 31.7 11.7 94.1
2014 367 30.6 11.9 95.4
2015 356 30.0 11.8 88.8
2016 343 26.0 13.1 95.3
2017 358 27.9 12.8 93.3
2018 348 29.2 11.9 91.7
2019 364 30.2 12.0 88.5
2020 349 30.2 11.5 96
2021 297 29.1 10.2 93.6
2022 326 26.2 12.4 76.1
2023 308 26.3 11.7 91.9
2024 308 24.9 12.3 92.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Highland Park Central

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 417 23.0 18.1 0
1989 428 28.0 15.2 n/a
1990 456 29.8 15.3 0
1991 447 26.5 16.8 n/a
1992 384 29.9 12.8 68.5
1993 372 26.0 14.3 59.7
1994 359 25.6 14.0 64.9
1995 317 24.0 13.2 56.8
1996 317 24.0 13.2 56.8
1997 366 18.8 19.5 75.7
1998 348 28.0 12.4 79
1999 341 17.5 19.5 80.9
2000 323 25.5 12.7 83.6
2001 340 26.0 13.1 81.8
2002 346 25.0 13.8 86.1
2003 346 25.0 13.8 86.1
2004 348 27.2 12.8 94
2005 364 28.5 12.8 94.4
2006 327 37.0 8.8 94.6
2007 284 33.2 8.6 88.8
2008 331 28.8 11.5 85.1
2009 374 31.2 12.0 89.9
2010 366 30.7 11.9 92.3
2011 388 28.6 13.5 92.5
2012 393 36.6 10.7 95.2
2013 374 31.7 11.7 94.1
2014 367 30.6 11.9 95.4
2015 356 30.0 11.8 88.8
2016 343 26.0 13.1 95.3
2017 358 27.9 12.8 93.3
2018 348 29.2 11.9 91.7
2019 364 30.2 12.0 88.5
2020 349 30.2 11.5 96
2021 297 29.1 10.2 93.6
2022 326 26.2 12.4 76.1
2023 308 26.3 11.7 91.9
2024 308 24.9 12.3 92.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Highland Park Central

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $2,251 (17.9%) $10,321 (82.1%) $12,572

Data source: Kansas Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Highland Park Central

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 645th of 667 Elementary schoolsRanks 650th of 660 Elementary schools
 1.8%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (Highland Park Central)13.74.3
 9.5%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Topeka Public Schools)24.423.1
 1.3%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Kansas)40.638.1
 2.5%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Highland Park Central)17.619.1
 1.5%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Topeka Public Schools)38.532.6
 5.8%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Kansas)50.350.4
 0.2%
4th Grade English Language Arts (Highland Park Central)1515.7
 0.7%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Topeka Public Schools)32.728.2
 4.6%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Kansas)47.642.8
 4.8%
4th Grade Mathematics (Highland Park Central)3.33.9
 0.7%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Topeka Public Schools)28.224.1
 4.1%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Kansas)36.137.6
 1.5%
5th Grade English Language Arts (Highland Park Central)22.64
 18.6%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Topeka Public Schools)31.824.4
 7.4%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Kansas)43.539.6
 4%
5th Grade Mathematics (Highland Park Central)14.38.2
 6.1%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Topeka Public Schools)27.120.5
 6.6%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Kansas)31.931.3
 0.6%
5th Grade Science (Highland Park Central)14.38
 6.3%
   5th Grade Science (Topeka Public Schools)31.629.3
 2.3%
   5th Grade Science (Kansas)43.142.1
 1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students364308
 15.4%
African American11272
 35.7%
American Indian06
Asian31
 66.7%
Hispanic139119
 14.4%
Pacific Islander02
White8368
 18.1%
Two or More Races2740
 48.1%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients88.5%91.9%
 3.4%


Schools Near Highland Park Central









Frequently Asked Questions about Highland Park Central

In the 2023-24 school year, 308 students attended Highland Park Central.

Students at Highland Park Central are 44% Hispanic, 20% White, 19% African American, 16% Two or more races, 1% American Indian.

Highland Park Central ranks in the bottom 8.0% of Kansas elementary schools.

Students who attend Highland Park Central usually go on to attend:

High : Highland Park High


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kansas State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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