The KC area’s best middle schools are in JoCo, rankings say. See the details
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that these rankings were released in September 2024, for the 2025 school year. The new 2026 rankings will be released at the end of the month.
The best middle schools in the Kansas City area mostly reside in one district, according to a 2025 report.
Niche, a school and neighborhood ranking service and data aggregator that pulls information from dozens of sources and reviews from current and former students, has 2025 rankings for the best public middle schools in the Kansas City metro.
The rankings were posted during the 2024-2025 academic school year. The top schools are in Overland Park, and only one Missouri school made the top 10. Here is a closer look at the best middle schools in the Kansas City metro, and where other schools fall on the list.
Blue Valley School District claimed the top 5 spots
The best middle school in the Kansas City area was Pleasant Ridge Middle School, according to Niche. The school, 9000 W. 165th St., Overland Park, is a part of the Blue Valley Unified School District and received an A+ from Niche for its academics and teachers, which both ranked as some of the best in Kansas City.
Pleasant Ridge was also the No. 1 middle school in Kansas.
The top six middle schools and seven of the top 10 in the Kansas City area were all located within the Blue Valley Unified School District on Niche’s 2025 rankings. Here’s the full ranking:
- No. 2: Lakewood Middle School, 6601 Edgewater Drive, Overland Park (Blue Valley)
- No. 3: Prairie Star Middle School, 14201 Mission Road, Leawood (Blue Valley)
- No. 4: Harmony Middle School, 10101 W. 141st St., Overland Park (Blue Valley)
- No. 5: Overland Trail Middle School, 6201 W. 133rd St., Overland Park (Blue Valley)
- No. 6: Oxford Middle School, 12500 Switzer Road, Overland Park (Blue Valley)
- No. 7: Patton Junior High School, 1 Patton Loop, Fort Leavenworth (Fort Leavenworth Unified School District)
- No. 8: Lexington Trails Middle School, 8800 Penner Ave., De Soto (De Soto Unified School District)
- No. 9: Summit Lakes Middle School, 3500 SW Windemere Drive, Lee’s Summit (Lee’s Summit R-VII School District)
- No. 10: Aubry Bend Middle School, 12501 W. 175th St., Overland Park (Blue Valley)
Two others schools in the district, Blue Valley Middle School and Leawood Middle School, were ranked No. 12 and No. 13, respectively.
How many Missouri schools were in the top 10?
Niche’s top 10 middle schools in the Kansas City area only featured one school in Missouri: No. 9-ranked Summit Lakes Middle School. The school in the Lee’s Summit R-VII School District received an A from Niche, including an A+ for its teachers. It was also named the best middle school in Jackson County.
These Missouri school were included the top 25:
- No. 11: Delta Woods Middle School, 4401 NE Lakewood Way, Lee’s Summit (Blue Springs)
- No. 18: Brittany Hills Middle School, 2701 NW 1 St., Blue Springs (Blue Springs)
- No. 20: Bernard C. Campbell Middle School, 1201 NE Colbern Road, Lee’s Summit (Lee’s Summit)
- No. 21: Paul Kinder Middle School, 3930 NW RD Mize Road, Blue Springs (Blue Springs)
- No. 22: Lakeview Middle School, 6720 NW 64th St. (Park Hill School District)
- No. 23: Moreland Ridge Middle School, 900 SW Bishop Drive, Blue Springs (Blue Springs)
The first Kansas City Public Schools middle school on the list was Lincoln College Preparatory Academy Middle School, 2012 E. 23rd St., which Niche ranked as the 54th-best middle school in the Kansas City area.
Updated rankings come out at the end of September.
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM.
