The top reported proficiency rate is 23% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Longfellow Elementary
Longfellow Elementary was a regular Kansas City public school, but it is no longer open. The school’s lifecycle status is listed as closed, so for a parent looking at current options, this is a historical profile rather than an active enrollment choice. Any search for a neighborhood elementary in the area described here would need to identify which school now serves that attendance zone or consider the district’s other open elementary schools.
The school served a single grade band, covering middle school grades (M through M), which in this case corresponds to students in roughly third through sixth grade based on the state testing data available for the 2022-23 school year. On the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests, the school’s results showed that a modest share of students met the state’s proficient or advanced benchmarks in English language arts across the grades tested, while in mathematics the share was quite low, and in science for grade five it was similarly low. On the English language arts tests, the portion of students scoring proficient or above was in the upper teens to mid-twenties across grades three through six. In math, the share was much smaller: about one in five students in grade three scored proficient or above, but in grade five that figure was very low. Because the school is now closed, these results are a record of its performance in its final year rather than a reflection of current instruction. A parent should keep in mind that this school no longer exists, so the data speaks only to the past.
Enrollment and demographic data were not available in the records, so the size of the student body, the share of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, and the racial and ethnic composition were not reported. Likewise, there is no information on special education or English learner populations, staffing ratios, or discipline rates. The school was not a charter school and its magnet and Title I status were not provided in the data.
The school was part of the Kansas City 33 school district, the public school system serving Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City is a major urban center, the largest city in the state by population, covering a very large geographic area with a mix of commercial, industrial, and residential uses spread across many neighborhoods. The city grew as a transportation and livestock hub and today retains major commercial and cultural districts downtown, at the Country Club Plaza, and in areas like River Market and 18th and Vine. It is known for its jazz heritage, barbecue, and an extensive system of fountains and boulevards. The city as a whole is largely car-dependent, though walkable pockets exist downtown and in a few other districts. Housing values in the zip code of the school were below the national and state benchmarks based on available data, and rental costs were part of a mixed affordability picture.
For the district itself, a major recent development is that Kansas City Public Schools regained full accreditation from the Missouri State Board of Education in August 2022, after a period of provisional accreditation. This change removed the uncertainty that had hung over the district and signaled sustained academic improvement. The district’s accredited status was renewed for the 2023-24 school year. Because Longfellow Elementary is now closed, the question of which school a family would attend in this part of Kansas City requires looking at the current elementary options within Kansas City Public Schools or exploring charter and private alternatives in the area.
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