The top reported proficiency rate is 73% in English language arts. The lowest is 55% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Wild Horse Elem.
Wild Horse Elementary serves the western portions of Chesterfield, an affluent and commercially developed suburb of St. Louis, as part of the Rockwood R-VI school district. It is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade.
On the Missouri Assessment Program, the school posted strong performance in both math and English language arts. Third graders reached a high proficiency rate in math, and fifth graders were solidly proficient as well, though fourth grade math was somewhat lower. In English language arts, third graders again showed a high proficiency rate, and fifth graders also performed well. Fourth grade ELA results were suppressed, so that data point is not available for review. In fifth grade science, just over half of students scored proficient, a softer result that a parent may want to look into further with the school.
Wild Horse is not a Title I school, and a relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area's overall affluence. The student body is notably diverse: the largest group is Asian American, followed by white, with smaller shares of Hispanic and Black students, and small numbers of multiracial and Native American students. The school serves just under five hundred children, with roughly equal numbers across kindergarten through fifth grade.
The building sits in Chesterfield, a community with no traditional downtown and a car-oriented layout built around interstate and arterial highways. Major employers include health care, corporate headquarters, and the Parkway and Rockwood school districts. Housing values in the area are well above national medians, and the local market has been strong but showing some softening in the county overall, with modest price declines year over year and a slight uptick in homes for sale. Rents are also above average. Families moving here typically do so for the schools and the proximity to corporate employment centers.
The Rockwood district has made several recent moves that affect prospective families. Voters approved two large bond issues without a tax rate increase: one in 2022 for safety improvements, HVAC upgrades, and renovations across all district schools, and another in 2024 to build a new elementary school to address enrollment growth, along with further safety and infrastructure work. The district also shifted to a science-of-reading-based literacy curriculum in the elementary grades starting in the 2023-2024 school year, a change that affects all of its nineteen elementary schools, including Wild Horse.
When compared with other school districts in St. Louis County, Wild Horse Elementary’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile. No data was available for chronic absenteeism or the four-year graduation rate, both fields that do not apply to an elementary school serving only kindergarten through fifth grade.
This is a school that fits families looking for a high-performing, low-poverty elementary option in an affluent suburban setting, one where the student population is racially and economically diverse despite the area’s overall wealth. The academic record is strong in the early grades, with a slight dip in the middle elementary years that would be worth examining directly. The district’s recent investments in facilities and literacy instruction signal ongoing attention to school quality, and the broader community offers substantial employment and amenities, albeit in a thoroughly car-dependent environment.
See more original research from School Decision →