The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Carden Park Elem
Carden Park Elementary sits in the city of St. Joseph on the Missouri River, a mid-sized city with a diversified industrial economy centered on food processing, animal health pharmaceuticals, and heavy equipment manufacturing. The city is the county seat of Buchanan County and home to Missouri Western State University. St. Joseph’s population has been gradually declining in recent years, but its manufacturing base remains strong, with major employers including a healthcare system, a food processing plant, the school district itself, and animal-health research facilities tied to the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor. The city blends industrial zones, a historic downtown, and residential neighborhoods, and it is spread over a large area. A publicly owned bus system serves the city, and the nearest commercial airport is roughly a 35-mile drive south to Kansas City International.
Carden Park serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade and is a regular public school within the St. Joseph School District. The school’s enrollment is relatively large for an elementary campus that serves only up to grade six. Demographically, the student body includes a majority of white students, with a substantial combined share of Hispanic students and students who identify as two or more races. Black students and students of other racial backgrounds make up smaller shares. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that the school serves a community with widespread economic need.
On the Missouri Assessment Program tests, which are administered in grades three through six, proficiency rates in English language arts and math vary by grade level but are generally in a range that would give a parent reason to look into this further with the school. In third grade, just under three in ten students met the proficiency benchmark in both ELA and math. Fourth grade showed a stronger picture in both subjects, with about four in ten students proficient in ELA and a similar share proficient in math. In fifth grade, proficiency rates dropped notably in both subjects, and in sixth grade, about three in ten students were proficient in math while roughly a similar share were proficient in ELA. Science testing occurs in fifth grade, and about a quarter of students met the proficiency standard. Across tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint among the districts in Buchanan County.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing. A parent may want to ask the school directly about those areas if they are a concern.
The St. Joseph School District passed a bond issue and an operating levy and is undergoing a district-wide grade reconfiguration starting in the 2026-27 school year. That plan will convert one high school into a middle school and one middle school into an elementary school. Families entering the district should confirm how the reconfiguration affects attendance boundaries and grade-level alignment for Carden Park.
Housing in the area around the school is more affordable relative to both the state and national benchmarks. Home values and rents are below the averages for Missouri and the country as a whole. This price level reflects the city’s broader economic context and may be a factor for families weighing school quality against housing costs.
Carden Park is a school where economic need is universal and academic proficiency rates are below the midpoint among its county peers. A parent considering this school would want to understand the specific academic support structures in place, particularly in the upper elementary grades where proficiency rates were lower, and confirm how the district’s upcoming reconfiguration affects the school’s role and programming.
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