The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 24% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ellis Elem.
Ellis Elementary is a regular public school in Plattsburg serving prekindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Clinton County R-3 School District. With an enrollment around the size you would expect for a small-town elementary, the student body is predominantly white, with a small share of students identifying as two or more races, and even smaller shares identifying as Hispanic, Black, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A substantial share of students, roughly two in every five, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a measure of the economic background the school serves.
Plattsburg is a small residential town that serves as the county seat of Clinton County. Its historic downtown is organized around the courthouse square, and the county government is a primary employer alongside local medical facilities. The town has seen a slight population decline over recent decades, though there has been some new housing development around a man-made lake. The district itself operates on a four-day school week from Tuesday through Friday, a structural scheduling choice that permanently changes family routines and childcare arrangements for all district families. The district has also completed a notable amount of facilities upgrades recently, a capital investment in its school buildings.
The school’s academic performance on the Missouri Assessment Program gives a mixed picture. In English language arts, just under a third of third graders were proficient, while fourth graders were at a higher level, with around two in every five meeting the state standard. In math, about a quarter of third graders reached proficiency, and fourth graders were at roughly the same level as the third in that subject. Fifth-grade science results, which come from the prior school year’s testing round, show that about a quarter of those students were proficient. These results place the school’s overall proficiency index below the midpoint relative to other districts in Clinton County, landing in the bottom quartile of that comparison group. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports and interventions are in place.
No district-level graduation or chronic absenteeism data was available for this comparison, and those metrics are not applicable to an elementary school anyway. The school does not appear to be a Title I school, though that status field was not fully reported. Information on special education and English learner populations, as well as discipline and staffing data, was missing.
Plattsburg’s small-town setting means that housing values are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and the area is primarily residential. For a family, the four-day week is a significant practical consideration that will shape weekly schedules, and the school’s test results may prompt closer inquiry into how the school is approaching student learning in the early grades. The school serves its local community in a traditional elementary capacity, with the county seat’s quiet character being the backdrop for a child’s school years.
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