The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Science. The lowest is 19% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Gladstone Elementary
Gladstone Elementary sits in Kansas City Public Schools, a district that reclaimed full state accreditation in 2022 after years of provisional status—a shift that signals sustained improvement to families watching the district’s standing. The school itself serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in a regular public school setting, with no charter or magnet designation in the data. It is one of many elementary schools spread across a very large, car-dependent city that has concentrated walkable pockets downtown and in a few historic districts, while most neighborhoods are lower-density residential.
The student body is diverse. Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed by Black students, Asian students, White students, and smaller numbers from other racial groups. Every student at Gladstone qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. That universal eligibility reflects the economic circumstances of the attendance zone and means there is no stigma attached to meal applications, but it also signals that the school serves a population with significant financial need. The data does not include counts for students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs and supports.
On state assessments, Gladstone’s results fall below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Jackson County. That comparison set includes 32 districts. The school’s proficiency rates in math range from roughly a quarter of students in third grade and fifth grade to about a sixth of fourth graders, with sixth-grade math just over a fifth. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: roughly a fifth of third graders reached proficiency, about a fifth of fourth graders, roughly a quarter of fifth graders, and about a tenth of sixth graders. Fifth-grade science shows about a quarter of students proficient. These are consistent, across-the-board soft spots. A parent weighing this school will want to understand what academic interventions the school provides and what the trend looks like in the years ahead. The data available for multi-year trends is very limited—only one year of results was usable for trend calculation—so it is not possible to say from this source whether performance is improving or declining.
The school has no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. There is no discipline data, no staffing ratios, and no chronic absenteeism figure in the provided material. A parent may wish to ask the school office for current class sizes and attendance patterns directly.
Housing in the 64123 zip code is notably affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks, with home values that have softened recently. For a family considering a move into the attendance zone, the monthly cost of owning is meaningfully lower than renting a comparable home, and housing costs as a share of local income are manageable. Kansas City itself is a major urban center with a broad set of civic and cultural institutions—a large park system, museums, a streetcar line, and well-known arts and music scenes—but the school’s immediate neighborhood on Elmwood sits within the city’s regular residential fabric rather than in a high-walkability core.
Gladstone Elementary does not appear in the data as offering specialized programs or magnet themes. It is a neighborhood school serving its surrounding community. The district brief notes KCPS’s full accreditation as the most significant recent change, and the district’s academic performance across all its schools is something a comparison-minded parent should consider alongside Gladstone’s individual results. For a family looking at this school, the core picture is of a high-poverty urban elementary school with a diverse student body, test scores that trail the county median, and an affordable housing market nearby. The open questions around special populations support and academic interventions are worth raising directly with the school.
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