The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Math. The lowest is 44% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Mark Twain Elem.
Mark Twain Elementary is a regular public school in Carthage, Missouri, serving kindergarten through third grade. As an early-elementary school, it feeds into the Carthage R-IX district’s intermediate and upper-grade buildings, and it does not have a high school graduation rate because it does not serve those grades.
The school is located on South Main Street in Carthage, a town that functions as the county seat of Jasper County. Carthage has a traditional small-city layout built around a historic courthouse square, with a mix of residential neighborhoods and industrial employers including Leggett & Platt, H.E. Williams, and food-processing plants. The economy also includes agriculture and a notable historic Route 66 corridor. Recent development includes a new high school and a city-owned hospital, and the district recently completed a renovation at the high school that added a secure entrance and expanded commons space, funded without a tax increase.
Mark Twain Elementary has a modest enrollment for its grade band. The student body is diverse: about three-fifths of students are white, roughly one-third are Hispanic, and small shares identify as two or more races, Black, or American Indian. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a common marker for the level of economic need in the community. Data on the share of students with disabilities or who are English learners was not available in the source records.
On the Missouri Assessment Program, the state’s standardized test, Mark Twain’s third graders turned in proficiency results that sit above the midpoint relative to other districts in Jasper County. In math, about half of tested students scored at the proficient or advanced level, and in English language arts, a slightly smaller share did so. These figures place the school’s overall performance in the upper half of area districts. Because the school serves only primary grades, there is no data on chronic absenteeism or graduation outcomes that apply to older students.
A parent considering Mark Twain will find a neighborhood elementary school that covers the foundational primary years within a broader district that has invested in its facilities. The school’s academic results are solid for the county, and the student body reflects the demographic mix of Carthage itself. The absence of data on special-population services or course access is a gap a family may want to fill by speaking directly with the school. The school’s early-exit grade of third means that children will move to a different building for fourth grade and beyond, which is a normal structure for a district with separate elementary and intermediate campuses. For a family seeking a primary school in a manufacturing-and-agriculture community with a clear downtown core and a mix of older housing stock and recent public investments, Mark Twain fits the profile of a workable, middle-of-the-pack option within the Carthage system.
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