Monticello Trails Middle School, Shawnee KS

Original Research by School Decision on Monticello Trails Middle School

Monticello Trails Middle School serves students in grades six through eight in Shawnee, a predominantly residential suburb of Kansas City within Johnson County. The school is part of the De Soto school district, and its enrollment suggests a mid-sized middle school for its grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school is located in a community shaped by suburban development patterns. Shawnee is car-dependent and spread out, with a mix of housing subdivisions, strip commercial corridors, and light industrial and warehouse employers such as FedEx Ground and Bayer HealthCare. The city’s population has grown in recent years, and the median home value and rent in the area are well above national benchmarks, reflecting a notably high-cost housing market. This economic context means that many families living in the attendance zone likely have substantial resources, though the market may be a stretch for households reliant on the national median income.

On state assessments, Monticello Trails posted proficiency rates that place its overall academic performance in the top quartile among districts in Johnson County when looking at all tested subjects and grades together. That said, the results vary by subject and grade level. In reading and English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranged from a little over half in grade seven to a little under two-thirds in grade eight. In math, the proficiency rates ran from a similar level in grade eight to nearly two-thirds in grade six. In eighth-grade science, just over half of students scored proficient or above. The state changed its cut scores for math and English language arts for this testing year, which makes direct comparison with prior years uncertain.

A parent considering this school will find a student body with a relatively low share of economic disadvantage and a high-cost local housing market. The academic results are broadly solid, with most proficiency rates landing in the range of half to two-thirds of students meeting the state standard, and the composite picture places the school favorably against other Johnson County districts. The variation across grades and subjects is fairly typical of middle schools. No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, or course access, so those aspects of the school environment cannot be assessed from this information. The district did not have any recent major changes publicly reported. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.

For a family already living in the area or considering a move to this part of Johnson County, Monticello Trails represents a middle school with above-average academic standing relative to its surrounding districts, set within a suburban, car-oriented community with a strong housing market and a mix of local employers. A parent who wants to understand the full picture may want to speak with the school about course offerings, elective pathways, and student support structures, as those details were not available here.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 62% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 58% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 54% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 56% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 58% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 54% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 55% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolDe Soto, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income62%38 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income32%Higher-income57%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income67%32 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income68%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income64%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income61%35 pp gap