The reported proficiency rate for Math is 20%.
Original Research by School Decision on Gasconade C-4
Gasconade C-4 is a small, rural school district in Laclede County, Missouri, serving students from prekindergarten through eighth grade. The district’s single school, Gasconade Elementary, houses all of those grades, so students who continue into high school leave the district after eighth grade, typically enrolling in a neighboring district. That means there is no graduation rate to report here the district simply does not operate a high school.
The district is very small. Enrollment is modest for a PK-8 district, and student demographics are overwhelmingly homogeneous, with an extremely high share of white students and very small numbers of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. All other racial groups are absent from the reported data. Information on students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and English learners was missing from the data we had, so we cannot describe those shares. A parent would need to ask the district directly about economic diversity and special education support.
State testing results are sparse, largely because the district’s grade-level cohorts are so small that Missouri suppresses results to protect student privacy. Across math, English language arts, and science, nearly every tested grade had its proficiency rate suppressed, meaning the number of students tested was below the state’s reporting threshold. The one exception was fifth-grade math, where a reported result showed a low proficiency rate. Because that single data point is the only one available, the district’s overall proficiency index, which averaged across all tested subjects and grades, places Gasconade C-4 in the bottom quartile among Laclede County’s three districts. Parents should interpret that with caution: the index is driven by one small cohort’s performance, not a broad picture. It is worth asking the school for a more complete sense of academic achievement, such as classroom-level assessments or local benchmark data.
On other measures, the district compares more favorably. Chronic absenteeism is low, placing the district in the top quartile for attendance health among the county’s districts. That aligns with what one would expect from a tiny rural school where students likely live close by. Per-pupil spending is at the upper end of the county range, which may reflect the fixed costs of running a school with a small enrollment.
Housing in the areas that feed the district spans a few ZIP codes. The weighted average home value is around the middle of the Missouri state benchmark, with notable variation across the contributing towns. Of the three ZIP codes, one had a slight decline in value over the past year while the other two saw modest increases. Rental availability is limited to one ZIP code, and the estimated monthly rent sits below a typical mortgage payment for a median-priced home, making renting the more affordable option in that part of the district. The national median household income and mortgage rate context apply broadly; local economic data for Laclede County was not provided.
We looked for recent district changes that would matter to parents who are enrolling or considering a move, but publicly reported information contained only basic enrollment and fiscal data with no lasting parent-relevant developments identified. That does not mean nothing has changed, only that nothing was found in the accessible records.
Gasconade C-4 is a straightforward fit for a family who wants a very small, rural elementary and middle school experience with a near-total absence of racial diversity and no high school to plan around. The thin testing picture is a limitation for any parent wanting to gauge academic performance against state standards, and a direct conversation with the school would be the obvious next step. The attendance record and spending level suggest a school that is running without the chronic absenteeism problems that can plague larger rural districts. But the key missing piece for any family looking beyond eighth grade is the need to research feeder high school options in the area.
See more original research from School Decision →