The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Benton Elem.
Benton Elem. sits in the Marshall Public Schools system in the small county‑seat town of Marshall, Missouri. The school serves only third and fourth graders, a compact two‑grade band that means every student transitions elsewhere after grade four. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and the building operates as a standard neighborhood elementary school within a rural district.
Marshall itself has a traditional center: the Saline County Courthouse anchors a square lined with local businesses and Victorian homes. Missouri Valley College, a private liberal arts college, lies inside the city limits, giving the town a modest college‑town character alongside its agricultural roots. Major employers include a ConAgra plant, Fitzgibbon Hospital, and the college itself. The population has been slightly declining in recent years, and the town’s growth trajectory is modest. Walkability is concentrated around the courthouse square and the college area rather than extending across the whole town. For families considering Benton, the school is part of a community that values its courthouse‑square traditions and the college’s presence, but the housing market and economic context are typical of rural Missouri.
Enrollment for just two grades produces a moderate‑sized student body. The demographic makeup is predominantly white, with a notable share of Hispanic students, a smaller but meaningful group of students who identify as two or more races, and a modest presence of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and Black students. More than half of the students come from families with lower incomes, as indicated by the share qualifying for free or reduced‑price lunch. The school does not publish data on special education or English learner populations, so a parent may want to ask the school about the availability of supports and services.
State assessment results from the Missouri Assessment Program are available for both grades and both tested subjects. In third grade, proficiency rates in both math and English language arts are relatively low, with math showing particular softness. Fourth‑grade performance is stronger, with a larger share of students reaching proficiency in math and especially in English language arts. The overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places the school in the top quartile relative to districts in Saline County. That said, half of the tested grade‑subject combinations have proficiency rates below a third, which is a fact families may want to discuss with the school to understand the instructional approach and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting the bar.
Because Benton serves only grades three and four, there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing is available in this profile. The school’s website is not provided here, so families interested in classroom supports, enrichment, or the transition to fifth grade should reach out to the school directly.
For parents weighing this option, the picture is straightforward. Benton is a small, two‑grade building in a stable, modestly declining county‑seat town. The student body is racially diverse and has a significant low‑income population. Academic performance is mixed: stronger in fourth grade than third, and stronger overall in English language arts than in math, yet the school’s composite performance is above the midpoint of Saline County districts. The limitation of the grade span means the school is a short chapter in a child’s K–12 journey. Whether that works depends on what a family sees as the right transition point and how the district’s elementary alignment meets their child’s needs.
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