The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in Math. The lowest is 34% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on David Barton Elem.
David Barton Elementary serves third through fifth grade in Boonville, a small Missouri River town that sits roughly midway between Kansas City and St. Louis. The school is one of four in the Boonville R-I district, all located within the town itself rather than on separate suburban campuses. The community combines a historic downtown with cobblestone streets and a restored theater with the practical presence of a casino and a state correctional facility. The Katy Trail, a long rails-to-trails path, brings cyclists through town, and the local economy draws on the school district, the state, the casino, and Anheuser-Busch’s Warm Springs Ranch. Boonville’s population has been roughly flat to slightly declining in recent years, and development has focused on adaptive reuse of older buildings rather than new housing construction.
David Barton is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Every student enrolled qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure that captures household income. This is a school where economic need is near universal, and that shapes the context for the academic results that follow.
On the Missouri Assessment Program, the school’s performance varies notably by grade and subject. Third-grade math proficiency was at a level where roughly a quarter of students met the state’s proficient-or-above bar; third-grade English language arts was similar. Fourth-grade results were stronger, with about half of students proficient in math and a slightly lower share in English. Fifth-grade math proficiency was in the mid-range, while fifth-grade English dipped back toward a third of students proficient. On the fifth-grade science test, about two in five students scored proficient. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places David Barton in the top quartile relative to other schools in Cooper County, a point that matters given that the county comparison set includes a wide range of performance levels. The school’s proficiency index is above the middle of the county’s other schools.
The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races, a modest Black enrollment, and a small Hispanic population. The school serves a single grade band of upper elementary, so there is no graduation rate to report. The data does not include information on special education identification rates or English learner counts, so a parent who wants to understand those supports would need to ask the school directly.
No district-level strategic changes were identified in recent public reporting. The district’s schools are all in Boonville, and the system appears to be operating on a stable footing without major reorganization or new initiatives that would shift a family’s experience in the near term.
For housing, the local market is more affordable than the national median. The typical home value in the area is below the Missouri state benchmark, and rents are moderate. The estimated monthly mortgage cost for a median-priced home is modest by national standards, and rent consumes a smaller share of local income than in many parts of the country. A family moving into the district would find a housing market where entry costs are manageable, though the limited new construction and flat population suggest a market with slower turnover.
This is a school where nearly every student comes from a household with low income, and the academic results are a mixed picture. Fourth-grade shows a stronger performance, while third and fifth grade reveal softer spots, especially in English language arts. A parent looking at David Barton should consider how the school supports students who are behind in literacy and math, and whether the upward trajectory seen in fourth grade carries through to the next level. The school’s relative position within Cooper County is solid, but that is compared to a set of districts that includes lower-performing peers. For a family in Boonville, this is the neighborhood elementary school for upper grades, and the broader community offers a quiet, historic small-town setting with the Katy Trail and a working downtown.
See more original research from School Decision →