The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in Math. The lowest is 42% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Glendale Elem.
Glendale Elementary is a regular public school in Independence, Missouri, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Independence 30 school district. The school draws from a residential area on the south side of the city, a location that places it within a broad suburban environment. Independence itself is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City area and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is a practical commuter city with a mix of historic homes near a walkable downtown core and more auto-oriented suburban subdivisions spreading outward. The city’s largest employer is its school district, and other major job centers include healthcare, defense manufacturing, and the county court system.
The school’s enrollment is in the middle range for an elementary building serving these grades. Its student body is diverse. The largest group of students are white, and there are also substantial populations of Hispanic and Black students, along with a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a significant portion of families in the attendance zone face economic challenges. The school does not appear to be a charter or magnet school, and no designation as a Title I school was available in the data.
State assessment results from the Missouri Assessment Program provide a view into academic performance across grades three through five. In mathematics, proficiency rates declined as students moved through the grade levels, with a higher share of third graders meeting the state standard compared to fourth graders, and a noticeably smaller share of fifth graders reaching that level. In English language arts, the pattern was more stable across the grades, with about two out of every five students in each grade scoring at the proficient level or above. Fifth-grade science results were suppressed in the data, a situation that often reflects small group sizes or other reporting thresholds, so no assessment of that subject is possible. Looking at overall performance across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s results sit in the top quartile among schools within Jackson County. This positions it favorably against its county peers, though a parent may want to review how this school’s specific grade-level trends compare with the district’s other elementary schools to get a fuller picture of the academic pathway.
The school’s grade band means there is no graduation rate to report. No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or course access, leaving those dimensions of school environment uncharacterized here.
A major structural change to the district’s calendar took effect starting in the 2023-2024 school year. Independence 30 shifted to a four-day instructional week. The district maintains the same total number of educational minutes across the four days, and it offers optional enrichment activities and academic support on selected non-school Mondays. This is a lasting change that directly affects family schedules, childcare arrangements, and the rhythm of the school week. Any family considering the school will want to understand how this calendar aligns with their own work and caregiving needs.
Overall, Glendale Elementary is a school where a family will find a demographically mixed student body and academic results that compare well on a county level, set within a midsized suburban district that recently adopted a four-day school week. The declining math proficiency from third to fifth grade is a pattern a parent may wish to discuss with the school to understand the instructional approach in the upper elementary grades.
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