The reported proficiency rate for Math is 92%.
Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson Elem.
Jefferson Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through sixth grade in Conception Junction, a tiny rural community in southeastern Nodaway County, Missouri. The school is part of the Jefferson C-123 district, which covers this one building. With a student body that is small for its grade band, the school sits in a setting defined by agriculture and long-standing population decline. A parent looking at this school should understand it as an intimate, locally rooted elementary option where class groups are very small and academic results, where they can be measured, are strong.
The school’s enrollment is overwhelmingly white, and a modest but substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. No data on students with disabilities or English learners was reported. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to examine. Because the school is so small, Missouri’s state testing agency suppresses results for any subgroup or grade level where the number of test-takers falls below a threshold, which is common in tiny rural schools. That means for many tested subjects and grades the public data simply shows “suppressed.” For the one grade where a math result was reported—fourth grade—nearly all students scored at or above the proficient level. That single data point, combined with the school’s overall proficiency index (which averages all reported rates across tested subjects and grades), places Jefferson Elementary in the top quartile among districts in Nodaway County. The index is driven almost entirely by that one reported math score; English language arts and science results for all grades were suppressed. A parent should note that the available evidence points to strong math performance for the one tested cohort, but the picture for other subjects and grades is invisible to the public due to the school’s size.
The school itself is a straightforward public elementary, not a charter or magnet, without any Title I designation recorded in the data. No information on programs such as gifted education, special education services, or extracurricular offerings was available. The lack of such detail is not unusual for a school this size, but families who need specific services—special education, advanced coursework, or afterschool care—would want to ask the school directly what is available.
Conception Junction is a very small village that has seen a long-term population decline over several decades. The community is primarily residential with an agricultural backdrop; the largest employment sectors locally are educational services, manufacturing, and health care. Homeownership rates are above the national average. The town sits near Conception Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and cultural landmark a short distance south. There is no downtown or public transit to speak of; daily life is car-dependent. The housing market, while seeing property values rise over a recent one-year span, reflects a small, depopulating rural area. A family moving here would be choosing a quiet, low-density setting with strong ties to the land and the local abbey.
The Jefferson C-123 district itself did not have any publicly reported parent-relevant changes in recent years—no bond measures, boundary shifts, or program overhauls found. That stability, or at least lack of public disruption, is consistent with a tiny district focused on keeping its single school running.
In sum, Jefferson Elementary offers a very small, homogeneous student environment where the one academic result that can be seen is strong. The school is a good fit for families who value a close-knit, rural elementary experience and are comfortable with the limited scale of programs and the suppressed public data that comes with it. Families who need detailed information about special services, enrichment, or middle school transitions beyond sixth grade will need to contact the school directly, as the public record is quiet on those fronts.
See more original research from School Decision →