The top reported proficiency rate is 8% in Math. The lowest is 7% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Kipp Wonder Academy
KIPP Wonder Academy is a charter elementary school in St. Louis serving students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. It is part of the KIPP St. Louis Public Schools network, a group of charter schools operating within the city. The school is a regular public school in its governance structure, not a magnet or alternative program. Because it serves only early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report; that metric simply does not apply here.
The school’s student body is small for its grade band. The student population is overwhelmingly Black, with a very small share of students who are Hispanic, white, Native American, or of two or more races. Every student enrolled qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which tells a parent that this school serves a community with high economic need.
State test results for the 2024-25 school year are available for third and fourth graders in both math and English language arts, and they are low across the board. In third-grade math, a small share of students scored at or above the proficient level, and in fourth-grade math, that share was even smaller. In English language arts, third-grade and fourth-grade proficiency rates were also low. When the school’s overall proficiency index is placed alongside other districts in St. Louis city, it falls in the bottom quartile. This is a straightforward reading of the reported numbers. A parent considering this school will want to understand what academic supports are in place and what the school’s trajectory looks like, as the current test results are well below the midpoint of the city’s districts.
The school’s parent district, KIPP St. Louis Public Schools, did not have any recent publicly reported changes or strategic shifts that would be relevant to a family deciding on a school. The school itself does not report data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios, so those aspects of the environment cannot be assessed from the available information.
St. Louis is an independent city with a mixed economy anchored by service industries, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and aviation. Major employers include federal agencies such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Federal Reserve Bank, and large medical and research institutions like Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis. The city is also home to major cultural institutions such as the Gateway Arch, Forest Park, and the Saint Louis Zoo. St. Louis became an independent city in the late nineteenth century, separating from St. Louis County, and its population has shifted over the decades. Housing values in the school’s ZIP code have seen a modest recent decline, while rents have risen, and the broader economic context includes a national mortgage rate that has fluctuated in the mid-single digits and a national unemployment rate near historically low levels.
For a family, KIPP Wonder Academy presents as a small, high-need charter elementary school with a strong economic-support profile and test performance that is well below the median for St. Louis city districts. The school is part of a national charter network known for a college-preparatory mission, though that mission extends beyond the early grades this school serves. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its academic intervention strategies, how it supports students who are below grade-level benchmarks, and what the pathway looks like for students who continue into the middle and high school grades within the KIPP St. Louis network. The city context offers a range of cultural and economic anchors, but the school’s immediate academic results are a clear area of concern.
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