The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in Science. The lowest is 15% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on East Elem.
East Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Jefferson City, Missouri, part of the Jefferson City school district. It is located on the city’s east side at 1229 East McCarty Street, in a neighborhood that likely draws families from the surrounding residential area. The school is not a charter or magnet school.
The student body is diverse in its composition. White students make up the largest single group, followed closely by Black students, with smaller shares of students who identify with two or more races, Hispanic students, and Asian students. The school serves a population where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, one of the highest rates of economic disadvantage in the district. This context is important for understanding the academic performance data that follows, as schools serving high-poverty populations often face additional challenges.
On the Missouri Assessment Program, East Elementary’s proficiency rates across tested grades and subjects sit below the midpoint when compared with other schools in Cole County. In third-grade math, about one in nine students scored at the proficient or advanced level. Fourth-grade math was similar, at roughly one in eight students reaching that threshold. Fifth-grade math showed a higher share, with approximately three in ten students scoring proficient or above. On the English language arts tests, third-grade proficiency was about one in five students, and fourth-grade was roughly one in nine. Fifth-grade ELA results were suppressed, meaning the state did not release a rate. In fifth-grade science, about one in four students tested at the proficient or advanced level. A parent exploring options may want to ask the school about its approach to core instruction, intervention strategies, and how it supports students who are below grade level.
The school enrollment is moderate for an elementary serving kindergarten through fifth grade, with roughly similar class sizes across each grade level. Because East Elementary only goes through fifth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and no secondary-level program offerings such as AP, dual-credit, or career pathways. Those are relevant only at the district’s middle and high schools. The school’s disciplinary data, staffing information, and chronic absenteeism rate were not available in the provided records, so a family may wish to ask the school directly about these topics.
Jefferson City is the state capital, a city of moderate size with an economy centered on state government, healthcare, manufacturing, and education. Major employers include state government itself, Hitachi, Capital Region Medical Center, and Lincoln University. The downtown area is anchored by the Missouri State Capitol building on a bluff above the Missouri River, with the Governor’s Mansion, state museum, and historic sites nearby. The city’s population has been in modest decline in recent years, and it was hit by a destructive tornado on the southwest side in 2019. The housing market in the area reflects typical Midwestern capital-city conditions, with home values and rents that have been rising, though the school’s immediate neighborhood on the east side may have a different character and price point than the city as a whole. No recent major district-level changes, such as boundary adjustments or program overhauls, were identified in publicly reported sources.
The picture that emerges is of an elementary school serving a high-poverty community where state test results are well below the county median. This is a school where a family would likely want to engage closely with teachers and staff to understand the specific academic support their child will receive, and to see how the school’s resources and programs match their child's needs. For a family whose priority is a school with strong test scores, other options in the Jefferson City district or surrounding area would likely present a different profile. But for a family committed to this neighborhood or looking for a school that reflects the broader community’s diversity, East Elementary is the assigned public option.
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