Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence has been named the No. 1 private school in Kansas, according to one ranking. The ranking takes several factors into account, but the school’s headmaster says one aspect in particular is central to the school’s success.

“We don’t want to get too big; we actually cap our grades,” said Don Schawang, who has worked at the school for the past 16 years and been its headmaster for the past nine. “That’s the marrow of the school, and our mission, is individualized attention.”

The school’s student-teacher ratio was one of several factors considered as part of the ranking assigned by the review company Niche. Other factors include the average SAT and ACT composite score, the rankings of colleges students go on to attend, and student culture and diversity.

Don Schawang

The private Episcopal school is located in southwest Lawrence and serves about 200 students in grades six through 12. The campus includes a main building with classrooms, cafeteria, gym and theater, and another building for languages and the arts. Throughout the campus on Monday afternoon, not much more than a dozen students per classroom worked on art projects, on computers or practiced foreign language.

According to Niche, the school’s overall student-teacher ratio is 7:1, and Schawang said that classes have between 12 and 15 students. Schawang said that in addition to low ratios, the school has several structures — seating assignments at lunch that rotate every two weeks, all-school morning meetings and inclusive afterschool activities — that help all students get to know each other. That environment is a big part of students’ academic success, he said.

“It seems to be when students are known and valued they’re more likely to take risks academically and more likely to risk failure in order to achieve more,” he said.

Sonja Czarnecki, dean of students at Seabury, agreed that the environment of the school plays a role in the academic achievement of its students.

“The thing that I think makes the biggest difference at Seabury is the relationships students have with each other, with younger students, with older students, with their teachers especially,” she said.

According to the Niche ranking report, the school’s composite ACT score was 29, 90 percent of its students attend a four-year college, and the colleges attended by its graduates were rated A+. Based on its student demographics — which include 26 percent minority students — the school received a culture and diversity grade of B+.

Tuition and fees at the school are about $14,000 per year, but Schawang said diversity at the school is important and the school offers financial aid to some students. Schawang said about 28 percent of students receive some level of need-based financial assistance.

“Students who demonstrate need, generally we’re able to make it work,” he said.

Next school year will mark 20 years of operation for the school, which has grown significantly in that time. The school began operating out of the former Kaw Valley Elementary School in 1997 with about 30 students and six teachers.

The move to the school’s current building, which was formerly part of the Alvamar Country Club, was facilitated in part by the late developer Bob Billings. The new facility is located at 4120 Clinton Parkway and opened in 2003.

Schawang said that for a relatively young school such as Seabury, the award is nice recognition.

“I think we have become a more established school in Lawrence,” he said. “I know when I first started a big task we had was to get our name out there, but now I think we’ve established a reputation in town.”