The top reported proficiency rate is 13% in Math. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Kipp Inspire Academy
KIPP Inspire Academy is a charter school in St. Louis serving fifth through eighth grade. It is part of the KIPP St. Louis Public Schools network, a set of open-enrollment charter schools that operate independently of the traditional St. Louis Public Schools district. The school’s enrollment is small for a middle school, and nearly all students come from families with low incomes. The student body is overwhelmingly Black, with a much smaller share of Hispanic students and very few white, Asian, or multiracial students.
The neighborhood around the school sits within the city of St. Louis, an independent city with a diversified economy that includes major employers such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and several Fortune-ranked companies. The city’s political boundaries were set more than a century ago, and its population has shifted over the decades. For a family considering this school, the immediate context is an urban setting with a broad array of cultural institutions, including Forest Park, the Saint Louis Zoo, and the Saint Louis Art Museum, all within the city.
On state assessments, which are the Missouri Assessment Program tests in math, English language arts, and science, proficiency rates are low. In math, the share of students scoring at a proficient or advanced level was in the low single digits for fifth grade and rose only to roughly a sixth of students by eighth grade. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: a small fraction of fifth graders met that bar, and the figure ticked upward across the grades, reaching about a sixth of eighth graders. Science results followed the same general shape, with a very small percentage proficient in fifth grade and a higher, though still low, share in eighth grade. When the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is compared to other districts within St. Louis city, it lands in the bottom quartile. A parent looking at these results should note that a large majority of students are scoring below the state’s proficient threshold, which is a pattern the school’s leadership may be able to speak to directly.
Because KIPP Inspire is a middle school, it does not have a graduation rate to report. The data also do not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, staff qualifications, or the availability of specific courses or programs. There is no publicly reported information on whether the school provides extended learning time, tutoring, or other academic supports, though KIPP as a national network is known for a structured, college-preparatory approach. A family interested in the school’s daily academic program, its approach to helping students who are below grade level, and what enrichment or elective opportunities exist would likely need to ask those questions directly of the school.
The housing market in the zip code where the school is located shows home values well below both the Missouri state and national benchmarks, and values have declined moderately in the most recent year. For a family renting or buying in this part of St. Louis, the cost of entry is relatively low compared to much of the region.
This is a school where the core academic results are the central fact. The data show that the large majority of students are not yet reaching grade-level proficiency on the state’s tests. For a parent whose priority is a school with strong test scores or a wide array of advanced coursework, this school would not match that goal. For a family that is comfortable with a school that serves a nearly entirely low-income population and is interested in a KIPP network school in the city, a direct conversation with the school about its academic approach, student support systems, and any out-of-school programming would be a necessary next step. The available data do not describe the school’s culture, teacher turnover, or parent satisfaction, all of which are important to forming a complete picture.
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