Canton High, Canton MO - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Canton High

Canton High serves grades seven through twelve in a single building in the small Mississippi River town of Canton, Missouri. The school is part of the Canton R-V district, which also operates one elementary school. The enrollment is modest for a combined middle and high school, and the student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a notable level of economic need in the community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records reviewed.

State test results paint a mixed picture of academic performance. On the Missouri Assessment Program, proficiency rates in both math and English language arts fall below half across the tested grades, with some grade-level results suppressed for privacy reasons. Science performance is somewhat stronger, with a higher share of eighth graders meeting state standards. The overall proficiency index places the school slightly above the midpoint among the two districts in Lewis County, meaning it performs in the middle range of this small, rural county. The graduation rate was not reported in the data available, so a parent may want to verify this directly with the school.

The school’s website and directory list it as a regular public school, but specific course offerings, advanced placement, dual credit, or career and technical education programs were not provided. A family considering Canton High should ask about the breadth of the curriculum, especially for upper-level students preparing for college or the workforce. Information on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, and course access was also absent from the data, leaving gaps that a prospective parent would need to fill through a school visit or conversation with the district.

Canton itself is a small river town with a historic downtown, the campus of Culver-Stockton College, and a recent riverfront levee walk and wetlands trail that adds recreational access along the Mississippi. Housing values have risen meaningfully in recent years, though they remain below state and national benchmarks, and homes in the area are relatively affordable by broader standards. The town experienced a notable governance disruption in 2023 involving the police department and mayor, but the school district’s operations appear to have been stable; no recent parent-relevant changes such as boundary shifts, program closures, or new leadership were found in publicly available records.

This is a small, rural secondary school serving a community with a college presence and a modest economic base. Academic performance is uneven, with the strongest results in science and weaker showings in math and English. Families interested in a tightly knit school environment with a manageable enrollment may find Canton High a good fit, but they will want to explore the available academic pathways and supports in more detail than the data alone can provide.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 34 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

533 schools plotted. 66 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 34%

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▲ 1 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Science

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 9 pts above state median

This schoolCANTON R-V, 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.