The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is December 2024)
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Do you research school records? I’m not talking about yearbooks. Those can be found on the Yearbooks Page. I’m talking about actual school records, such as enrollment, attendance, and grade reports for example. These are interesting source documents because they might record the student’s age, birth date and location, and possibly their parents’ names. All great ways to find this information if you haven’t found them in other documents about your target ancestor. Besides, finding out your grandmother’s grades would be interesting!
The record collection links, listed below, feature school records from the state, and list collections of records that are available for free online.
If you wish to get educated with some basic information regarding what is available and how to navigate your research for school records, you can read these summaries:
- 5 Quick Tips to Get the Most Out of Education Records
- Top 10 Strategies for Finding School Records for Genealogy
- Getting Started With School Records for Genealogy Research
So, what types of records related to schools are maintained and often available?
- School Census
- School Catalogs
- Teacher’s Registers
- Attendance Records
- Report Cards
- Class Logs
- Teacher Rosters
- School Board Meetings/Reports
- Academic Team and Class Photos
- Local Newspaper Articles:
- Graduation Lists
- School Activities
- School Sports
- Student Newspapers
- Alumni Directories and Publications
- Yearbooks
- Yearbook Indexes
And, what types of information can you derive from these school records?
- Name (often includes a middle name which is useful).
- Age
- Physical Characteristics – color/race, disability.
- Birth Date
- Current Residence Address
- Name of Father
- Name of Mother
- Occupations of parents
- Grades
- Classes Taken
- Activities (from Photos)
- Date left school (can help with family residence relocation)
Below is a list of links to free online school record collections for the state;
Note: Some of the links go to sites with not much information and some go to sites with an extensive set of records.
Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Kansas School Records
- Anderson County, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Annals of Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian Manual Labor School
- Annual Catalogue of Campbell University
- Burr Oak High School, 62-72
- Chanute High School, Classes of ’23 – ’24 – ’25 – ’26 – ’27, Reunion, June 27 and 28, 1970
- Chautaqua County Miscellaneous School Indexes, ca. 1906-1939, ca. 1880-1886, and Miscellaneous School Records, ca. 1871-1937, and School Census Annual Records, 1879-1946
- Cimarron Consolidated School and Community
- Corning High School Corning Alumni Association: Graduates of Corning High School (1893 to 1967)
- Douglas County, Rural Schools and Schoolhouses
- Elk County, Superintendent School Records 1874-1960
- Germantown, Kickapoo Agency Iowa Indian Census, at the Kickapoo Training School, 1903-1920
- Germantown, Kickapoo Agency Kickapoo Indian Census, at the Kickapoo Training School, 1903-1920
- Germantown, Kickapoo Agency Potawatomi Indian Census, at the Kickapoo Training School, 1903-1920
- Germantown, Kickapoo Agency Sauk and Fox Indians Census, at the Kickapoo Training School, 1903-1920
- Gove County Kansas, Gove County, School Records, 1885-1968
- Gray County, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Greenwood County Annual Reports for School District No. 6, 1887-1912
- Greenwood County School District, 1887-1923; Indexes 1887-1964, Greenwood County, Kansas
- Haskell Institute; School Records, 1884-1953
- Jackson County, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Jefferson County Scholastic Censuses and Annual Reports of School District Clerks, 1883-1898
- Kansas City, Argentine High School 1938 Class Reunion Program
- Kansas State Agricultural College, Record of the Alumni
- Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, A History of the State Normal School of Kansas: for the First Twenty-five Years
- Kansas Wesleyan University, Catalog, 1918
- Kansas, Historical School Records (by County)
- Leavenworth County Scholastic Census Records, 1909-1923
- Linn County, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Manhattan, History of the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science
- Marshall County, Barrett School District, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Miami County, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Montgomery County, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Morris County, Council Grove High School Graduates 1891-1950
- Neosho County, Chanute High School, Miscellaneous School Records and Photos
- Neosho County, School Records, 1871-1936
- Norton County School Records, 1889-1947
- Pottawatomie County Examination Records, 1886-1930
- Raytown High School Directory for Alumni: Classes 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941
- Rosedale High School, Class of 1955
- Rush County, School District Boundaries, 1890-1947
- Shawnee Mission, Pawnee Elementary School: Shawnee Mission School District #512, School Directory, 1973-74
- Sheridan County, Record Teachers employed, 1892-1929
- Sheridan County, School District Records, 1889-1969
- Topeka High School Sixty-two Years of History
- University of Kansas Alumni Catalogue
- University of Kansas Directory: Register of the Officers, Faculty, employees, and Students
- University of Kansas, Catalogue of the Officers and Students, 1884-5
- Washburn College Alumni Register
- Woodson County, Partial Lists of 1871 Tax Rolls, 1899 Property List, 1900 Tax Rolls, School List, 1909 Students’ List
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!