Thomas J. Ultican Elem., Blue Springs MO

Original Research by School Decision on Thomas J. Ultican Elem.

Thomas J. Ultican Elementary is a regular public school in the Blue Springs R-IV School District, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It is located in a residential section of Blue Springs, a fast-growing suburb roughly a half-hour’s drive east of downtown Kansas City, with a Main Street corridor and a car-dependent, suburban layout typical of the area. The city has grown steadily in recent decades, and the school district is a significant local presence.

The student body at Ultican is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic and Black students and a modest portion of students who identify as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a mix of incomes. No data was available on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support, so a parent interested in those programs may want to ask the school directly.

For a school serving only elementary grades, state testing results are the main academic indicator. Ultican’s proficiency rates on Missouri’s MAP assessments show a mixed picture, with some strength and some soft spots. In math, third-grade proficiency was roughly in line with the state average, while fourth-grade was lower and fifth-grade sat between the two. In English language arts, third graders posted a stronger result, while fourth and fifth graders both landed at a lower level. On the fifth-grade science assessment, proficiency was similar to the fifth-grade math and ELA figures. When viewed across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to other schools in Jackson County, meaning it performs above many of its neighboring schools. Still, within the school, the gap between the stronger third-grade performance and the weaker fourth-grade numbers is one a parent may want to explore with the school, particularly around the transition between these grades.

Because Ultican does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and this is simply a function of the grade band. The data set did not include information on class size, teacher experience, or chronic absenteeism, so those are areas where a parent would need to seek out additional details.

The Blue Springs district has recently added a Career Innovation Center at the former freshman center campus, which will offer profession-based programs for older students; that is not directly relevant to an elementary school but reflects the district’s broader investment in expanding options beyond traditional academics. The district also adopted a five-year strategic plan covering 2023 through 2028, which sets long-term priorities for curriculum and operations.

For a family considering Ultican, the school sits within a growing suburb with a range of retail and services along its main commercial corridors. Housing values in the zip code are above the state median, and rents run slightly above the national average. The community is largely commuter-oriented, with many residents working in Kansas City. The school’s academic profile is strongest at the third-grade level, and its overall standing relative to other schools in Jackson County is solidly above the middle. The uneven performance in fourth grade, however, is the piece that invites a closer conversation with the school to understand what support is in place.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 67% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 67% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 58% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 61% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 62% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 63% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 60% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

This schoolBLUE SPRINGS R-IV, 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 3Lower-income33%Higher-income66%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income46%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income18%Higher-income47%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income45%7 pp gap