The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 40%.
Original Research by School Decision on South Holt Elem.
South Holt Elementary is the single pre-K through sixth grade public school serving Oregon, the county seat of Holt County, and the surrounding rural area of the South Holt County R-I district. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. With a small enrollment and a grade band that stops before high school, it provides the foundational years for students who will later move on to a secondary school elsewhere in the district. Oregon itself is a small, rural town in sustained population decline, and the school reflects that setting in its size and composition.
The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a modest share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the records we reviewed, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are served and what supports are in place. The school serves multiple grades in a single building, which for a rural elementary of this size typically means combined-grade classrooms or small class clusters that allow for individualized attention.
State testing data for the 2024-25 school year is largely suppressed, a common occurrence when the number of tested students in a grade is too small to report publicly without compromising student privacy. The only result that was not suppressed came from fifth-grade English language arts, where a share of students scored at the proficient or advanced level. Mathematics results for grades three through six were all suppressed, as were science results for grade five. Because so little test data is available at the school level, the district’s overall proficiency index, based on that single reported rate, places it above the midpoint relative to the other districts in Holt County. This is a thin basis for comparison, and families should treat it as an incomplete picture. The school likely participates in Missouri’s MAP assessments in all tested grades and subjects, but the small class sizes mean that year-to-year comparisons and precise public snapshots will rarely be possible.
Given the school’s grade structure, there is no graduation rate to consider. There is also no reported data on chronic absenteeism, course access, or staffing ratios. These gaps are not unusual for a rural elementary of this size, but they mean that a parent would need to visit or call to understand class sizes, enrichment offerings, and the frequency of art, music, or physical education.
Oregon’s housing market is affordable relative to national averages. Property values are modest, and the homeownership rate is high, though the town’s population has been declining over a number of years. The economy is anchored by health care, manufacturing, and retail, with county government as a likely employer given its status as the county seat. The town is compact, set on hills between two creeks, and is served by U.S. Highway 59. The cost of living is below the national average, and median rents are low. For a family considering a move, these conditions mean that housing is relatively inexpensive, but the area offers few of the amenities of a larger or growing community.
The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes such as bond measures, boundary shifts, or new program launches. This may simply reflect the district’s small scale and stable operations, or it may mean that any recent developments were not publicly reported in the sources we used. A parent moving into the area would want to confirm current offerings, before- and after-school care if needed, and how the elementary feeds into the district’s middle and high school programs.
South Holt Elementary is best suited for families who value a small, familiar school environment in a rural county-seat town where their child will be known by teachers and staff across multiple years. The limited public test data means that academic performance is harder to assess from the outside, but the school appears to be the only option for elementary education in the district, and the community’s stable, low-cost housing makes it accessible. Parents looking for a wide array of specialized programs or large peer groups will not find that here. Those who want a straightforward, locally grounded elementary school in a quiet, shrinking town will find a functional starting point.
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