The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Archie Elementary
Archie Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the small, rural community of Archie, Missouri, in southern Cass County. The town sits within the Kansas City metropolitan area and has seen noticeable population growth over recent years, alongside rising housing values and the addition of limited commercial development such as a Dollar General. The school shares a site with the district’s middle and high schools, and the district’s athletics dome doubles as the community’s storm shelter, underlining how the school functions as a civic anchor in this close-knit place.
Academic performance on Missouri’s state assessments is mixed and overall falls below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Cass County. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was relatively low across the three tested grades, with a modest uptick by fifth grade. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency was at a similar level, and fourth-grade results were suppressed in the available data. Fifth-grade ELA showed a notably higher proficiency rate. Science results for fifth grade were also suppressed, so no clear picture of performance in that subject is available. The suppression of some results may be due to small group sizes, a common occurrence in a school of this size. Families may want to follow up with the school for more detailed information on how students are progressing, especially in the early grades where proficiency rates are lower.
The student body is predominantly white, with a small share of Hispanic students and even smaller numbers of Black, American Indian, and multiracial students. Roughly one in three students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that the school serves a mix of family incomes. The enrollment of around two hundred forty students gives the school a size that allows for a familiar, small-school environment where teachers and staff are likely to know most children by name. No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing was available, so those aspects of the school environment cannot be assessed here.
Because Archie Elementary serves only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to consider. Students move on to the district’s middle school and then to Archie High School, which sits on the same campus. The district brief found little in the way of recent major changes or initiatives publicly reported, so the school’s trajectory appears steady rather than marked by significant transition.
For a family considering this school, the context matters. Archie is a rural town with minimal street life and limited local employment; many residents commute north to Harrisonville or into the Kansas City area. The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its academic results suggest that while some students are performing well, a sizeable portion are not yet meeting proficiency standards in math and reading. A parent who values a small-town setting, a single-campus K-12 arrangement, and a school that is central to community life may find Archie Elementary a natural fit. A parent concerned about lower test scores and wanting a deeper understanding of academic support and intervention would be wise to ask the school directly about its strategies and progress in raising achievement.
See more original research from School Decision →