The top reported proficiency rate is 88% in English language arts. The lowest is 80% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on New Franklin Elementary
New Franklin Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the New Franklin R-I district, a regular public school in a small Howard County town that is part of the Columbia metropolitan statistical area. The school is the only elementary in the district, and together they anchor the local civic fabric: the district is one of the town’s primary employers, and the building sits within the community rather than on a separate campus.
Enrollment is modest, which for an elementary spanning seven grades gives each cohort a size that allows for a tight-knit feel. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a small share of students identifying as Hispanic and an even smaller share as Black or multiracial. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting a community with a low median household income and a cost of living well below the national average. The town itself is quiet and rural, with a walkable core along Broadway, the Katy Trail running through it for recreation, and a historic district listed on the National Register. Population has seen a slight decline in recent decades, and no major new housing or commercial developments have been publicly identified, consistent with a trajectory of slow stabilization rather than growth.
State assessment results from the most recent testing year are partially available. For third and fourth graders, both math and English language arts proficiency rates were suppressed, typically because the number of tested students in those grades was too small to report publicly under Missouri’s data rules. The same was true for third and fourth grade math. For fifth grade, results were reported: the share of students scoring proficient or above in English language arts was high, and the share in science was also strong. These are the only grade-level results that can be examined directly, but they suggest that students who have reached fifth grade at this school are performing well on state assessments.
When the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is compared against other districts in Howard County—a set of three districts—New Franklin Elementary’s composite index places it in the top quartile. That is a meaningful benchmark given the small size of the comparison group; it indicates that among its county peers, the school’s academic results are notably strong. Because the school serves only elementary grades, no graduation rate applies, and chronic absenteeism data were not available.
No recent district-level changes that would substantially affect a parent’s decision were found in publicly available records. The district appears stable, and the school operates as a traditional elementary without charter or magnet status. Title I status was not reported, but the free and reduced-price meal share suggests the school may qualify for federal support.
For a family considering this school, the key attributes are its small scale, its strong relative performance within a rural county, and the character of the town itself. New Franklin offers a low-cost housing market relative to state and national medians, with typical home values well below both. The recreational draw of the Katy Trail, the city park with a fishing pond and sports facilities, and the historic downtown provide modest amenities. The trade-off is limited economic opportunity and a contracting population; parents who value a stable, close-knit elementary setting in a rural context will find a school that appears to be delivering solid academic outcomes in a small community where the school is a central institution.
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