Graden Elem., Parkville MO - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Graden Elem.

Graden Elementary, part of the Park Hill School District, serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade in Parkville, Missouri. Parkville itself blends historic downtown streets lined with antique shops, art galleries, and restaurants with large residential neighborhoods such as Riss Lake and Thousand Oaks. It is also home to Park University, a private four-year institution. The area is experiencing measurable growth, reflected in new residential and commercial developments. The district is responding to this enrollment pressure by opening Angeline Washington Elementary in August 2025, its twelfth elementary school, which will shift attendance boundaries.

Graden is a regular public school. The student body is predominantly white, with the largest minority groups being Hispanic and students identifying as two or more races. Black and Asian students each make up smaller shares. The school reports that a modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a relatively low level of economic disadvantage compared to state averages.

On state assessments, performance varies noticeably by subject and grade level. In third-grade math and English language arts, roughly half of students scored proficient or above. Math proficiency for fourth graders was slightly higher, while fourth-grade English proficiency was stronger, with a majority of students meeting the bar. Fifth-grade math dropped off, with fewer than half scoring proficient, and the fifth-grade English result was suppressed and not reported. Fifth-grade science performance was better than math in that grade, with a majority of students scoring proficient. Compared to other districts in Platte County, overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint of the comparison group. A parent may want to discuss the school’s approach to fifth-grade literacy and math instruction with the principal or classroom teachers.

The school offers no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on special education identification and English learner status was not available, which limits the picture of student supports. Disciplinary, staffing, and chronic absenteeism data were also missing, so the school’s learning environment and climate metrics remain largely unexamined. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its approach to student behavior, teacher retention, and support for students with disabilities or language needs.

The housing market in Parkville is expensive relative to state and national benchmarks. Home values are well above the Missouri median and are climbing alongside rising rents. Buying is more costly than renting by a meaningful margin each month, which makes the decision to purchase here a significant financial commitment. The broader economic context includes a modest national unemployment rate and a gradual rise in shelter costs.

Families considering Graden should weigh its uneven proficiency profile against the stability of a growing district that is investing in new facilities. The school’s relatively low poverty rate and suburban setting offer a particular peer environment, but the academic results in middle elementary years invite a closer look before a family settles on this attendance zone.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 46% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 48% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 50% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 52% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 48% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolPARK HILL, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income22%Higher-income55%33 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income46%26 pp gap