The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Math. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Macon Elementary
Macon Elementary School is a regular public school for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, part of the Macon County R-I district. The school shares a single, multi-building campus on the north side of the city with the district's middle school, high school, and career and technical education center. The city itself is a small county seat at the crossroads of two U.S. highways in northeastern Missouri, functioning as a regional commercial and civic hub. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of students identifying as two or more races or as Hispanic or Black. Just over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that reflects a moderate level of economic need in the community. The school serves all elementary grades in the district, with no charter, magnet, or Title I status reported in the available data.
State test results from the Missouri Assessment Program for the most recent school year show a mixed picture across subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced rose from third to fourth grade before declining in fifth grade. In English language arts, the rate was within a narrow band across the three tested grades, with the highest point in fourth grade. Science, tested only in fifth grade, was lower than the math figure for that same grade. The overall proficiency index for the school, which combines results across all tested subjects and grades, placed Macon Elementary below the midpoint when compared with other school districts within Macon County. Four of the six districts in the county reported proficiency data for this comparison, and the school’s overall result sat closer to the bottom of that range than the top. Parents looking at these figures may want to ask the school about how performance varies by grade and subject, and what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting the proficiency benchmark.
Families should note a recent curriculum change: the district adopted a new K-5 English language arts program in April 2025, replacing the prior reading and writing curriculum across all elementary grades. This is a lasting reform that will affect how literacy is taught going forward.
The housing market in Macon is more affordable than both the state and national benchmarks. Home values have risen in recent months, but the typical home remains well below the Missouri median, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment is modest by national standards. For families relocating or buying a first home, this presents a relatively attainable entry point.
The city itself is small, with a population that has been essentially flat for decades. There is no public transit system, and the town is oriented around the highway corridors. The school campus is separate from the downtown courthouse square, a common pattern in small Missouri county seats. Street life is modest, and the community’s civic anchors include the public library, a lake in the northwest part of town, and the county government complex.
For a family considering Macon Elementary, the context is a stable, small-town district with a moderate-need student population and a new literacy curriculum. The proficiency results sit lower than some neighboring districts in the county, which is a soft spot worth exploring directly with the school. There is no graduation rate to consider, as the school only serves elementary grades. The available data did not include information on special education identification rates, English learner populations, or chronic absenteeism, so those dimensions of student support remain uncharacterized here. Overall, Macon Elementary fits a family looking for a conventional public elementary experience in an affordable, slow-growing county seat, with the understanding that academic outcomes, by state test metrics, are average to below average compared with other districts in the same county.
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