The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 38% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Danby-rush Tower Middle
Danby-Rush Tower Middle is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in Festus, part of the Jefferson County R-VII district. It sits in a suburban city roughly half an hour south of downtown St. Louis, where the I-55 corridor fuels retail and service growth, a historic Main Street has seen a business revival, and recent political tension over a planned data center annexation signals that the city is in a period of active expansion. The school itself occupies a separated campus, not the downtown core.
The school’s enrollment is small for a middle school, and the student body is predominantly white. About three in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that falls below the national average and suggests a middle-income community overall, though the measure captures only a portion of families.
State testing data is available for most grade-level and subject combinations, though results for seventh-grade math, eighth-grade ELA, and eighth-grade math and ELA counts for some groups are suppressed due to small numbers—a parent may want to ask the school about those suppressed figures directly. Where results are reported, the picture is mixed. In sixth-grade math, a strong majority of students meet the state’s proficiency standard. That figure drops sharply in eighth-grade math, where only a small share of students score at the proficient or above level. In English language arts, sixth graders show a moderate proficiency rate, and seventh graders reach a stronger majority. Eighth-grade science, tested at that grade level, shows a moderate proficiency rate as well.
Compared with other districts in Jefferson County, Danby-Rush Tower Middle’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls below the midpoint of the county. That means the school’s academic performance, taken as a whole, sits in the lower half among its county peers. A middle school has no graduation rate, so that measure does not apply.
No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, or program offerings was available in the reporting, so a parent may wish to discuss those topics directly with the school. The district itself does not appear to have any recent large-scale changes that meet the bar for lasting relevance to families.
The community context is one of steady suburban growth. Home values in the area are moderately above the typical level across Missouri but still below the national average, and the housing market has been appreciating. The city’s economy leans on retail and services, with Mercy Hospital Jefferson as a major regional employer. The built environment is mostly auto-oriented except for the walkable downtown Main Street corridor. Seven city parks and a public library round out the civic anchors.
For a family considering this school, the academic profile is uneven: strong early-middle-school math performance gives way to much weaker results by eighth grade, while ELA holds at a moderate to solid level depending on the year. The small enrollment and predominantly white student body may shape the peer environment. The school sits in a growing suburban area with modestly above-state-average housing costs, and the city is navigating growth-related debates that could affect future development and school planning. Parents weighing this option will want to look into the suppressed test results and ask about programs, staffing, and student support to fill in the gaps not covered here.
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