The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Math. The lowest is 37% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Pleasant Hill Elem.
Pleasant Hill Elementary serves only third and fourth graders, a narrow grade band that makes it a transitional building between primary and intermediate school within the Pleasant Hill R-III district. For a family with a child entering third or fourth grade, this school is the sole destination for those two years, so the experience here is tightly focused on those early upper-elementary years.
The school sits in Pleasant Hill, a small city in the Kansas City metropolitan area that functions mainly as a residential community. Its historic downtown district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Rock Island Trail State Park has its western terminus here, connecting to a longer rails-to-trails network. The city has seen modest, steady growth in recent years. Most residents commute to jobs elsewhere in the metro area, and the housing market reflects that suburban desirability: home values in the area are above the state benchmark, and rents sit close to the national typical level. That suggests a relatively stable, middle-to-upper-middle-income community context, though the school’s own free-or-reduced-price lunch rate is at a level that indicates a substantial share of families face financial strain.
Academically, the picture comes entirely from the Missouri Assessment Program tests in math and English language arts for grades 3 and 4. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile when compared with other districts in Cass County. That is a genuine strength: relative to its county peers, Pleasant Hill Elementary performs well. But the results vary by grade and subject. In fourth grade, a majority of students scored proficient or above in both math and ELA, which is a solid showing. In third grade, math proficiency was lower, and ELA proficiency was notably softer, with fewer than a third of third graders reaching the proficient threshold. That dip in third-grade reading is a signal a parent may want to explore further with the school, especially since those students will move to fourth grade the following year and face higher expectations. The data does not include any breakdowns by student subgroup, so it is not possible to see how different populations performed within the school.
The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic representation and even smaller shares of Black, Asian, American Indian, and multiracial students. The enrollment is moderate for a two-grade building, with roughly even numbers in third and fourth grade. No data is available on the share of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent seeking those specifics would need to ask the school directly. Similarly, the record on discipline, staffing, and attendance is absent from the available data, which limits any full picture of school climate.
Pleasant Hill Elementary is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it does not have a Title I status reported. The district itself, Pleasant Hill R-III, appears stable: a search for recent parent-relevant changes turned up nothing substantial, which may mean continuity rather than upheaval. The school’s grade band means there is no graduation rate to report and no high school course offerings; those are further up the pipeline.
For a family evaluating this school, the key takeaway is a building that performs above the county average on state tests, especially by fourth grade, set in a commuter town with a strong sense of local history and accessible outdoor recreation. The softness in third-grade reading is the main area that warrants a conversation with the school to understand the instructional approach and support available. This is a straightforward, focused elementary school serving two critical years in a child’s academic foundation, and the data suggests it does that reasonably well relative to its neighbors.
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