Fair Grove Middle, Fair Grove MO

Original Research by School Decision on Fair Grove Middle

Fair Grove Middle sits in the small, rural community of Fair Grove, about a 15-mile drive north of Springfield on Route 65. The town is car-dependent, with a quiet street life centered around its historic square, Wommack Mill, and an annual heritage festival. The school is located on Main Street, integrated into the town center rather than on a separate campus. The Fair Grove R-X School District is a major local employer, and many residents commute to Springfield for work. The district is the sole school system in town, serving grades PreK through 12, and this middle school is one of its key buildings. A new middle school building opened several years ago, and the town has seen consistent population growth.

The student body is relatively small, serving fifth through eighth grade. Demographically, it is overwhelmingly white, with a very small share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. A moderate share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, signaling a mix of household incomes, though not a high-poverty school on a national scale.

On the state’s MAP assessments in math, reading, and science, performance sits at a level that places the school’s overall proficiency index in the top quartile relative to other districts in Greene County. That is a solid position. In math, proficiency rates across grades five through eight vary. Fifth grade falls below the midpoint, with about half of students meeting the bar. Sixth and seventh grades are stronger, with roughly two-thirds of students scoring proficient or above. Eighth grade drops back, with just over half meeting the standard. In English language arts, the picture is fairly consistent across all four grades, with a little over half of students scoring proficient in each. Science results show a clear pattern: fifth grade posts a strong showing, with about two-thirds proficient, while eighth grade hits exactly half. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports math skills in the transition years, particularly between fifth and eighth grade, where the numbers dip.

No graduation rate is reported here, because the school is a middle school and does not serve high school students. Program offerings were not present in the data, so this narrative cannot describe electives, extracurriculars, or specialized tracks. The school’s website would be the place to look for details on sports, clubs, and academic pathways. Staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, and discipline data were also unavailable. A parent should follow up with the school directly on class sizes and student support structures.

Housing in Fair Grove is moderately priced compared to national benchmarks, with home values above the state median. The town has seen consistent population growth, and the school district benefits from recent construction projects, including a new middle school building and a FEMA storm shelter. The community is small, with a strong sense of place, but a parent coming from a larger metro area should expect a quieter, more rural environment with fewer retail and cultural amenities within walking distance. This is a school that performs respectably on state tests, sits in a growing but still small town, and serves a largely homogenous student population. It fits a family looking for a solid middle school in a close-knit community where the school is a central part of town life.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 51%

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

English language arts

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

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

This schoolFAIR GROVE R-X, 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 5Lower-income48%Higher-income58%9 pp gap