The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Silex Elem.
Silex Elementary is the sole elementary school in the Silex R-I district, serving children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a very small, rural community in Lincoln County, Missouri. The town of Silex itself is tiny, covering only a couple of square miles, and has the feel of a compact rural village where civic life is centered on a few institutions. The school district is likely one of the larger local employers, and the school is probably integrated right into the town’s core rather than sitting on a separate, sprawling campus.
The student body is small, with an enrollment of roughly 200 children across seven grade levels. The community it serves is overwhelmingly white, which reflects the demographics of the area. About a third of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school within a typical range for a rural Missouri district but is not exceptionally high.
What jumps out from the available academic data is that a parent will want to ask the school for a fuller picture of student performance. State testing results from the Missouri Assessment Program are reported for third and fourth graders in both math and English language arts, and for fifth graders the results are suppressed, which the state often does when the group is small enough to risk identifying individual students. In math, just over a third of third graders and a third of fourth graders scored at or above the proficient level. In English language arts, the share of proficient students was just under a third for third graders and a bit higher, though still well under half, for fourth graders. Science results for fifth graders are also suppressed. Overall, when the school's tested grades are considered together, its proficiency index sits above the midpoint among the four districts in Lincoln County. That puts it in the middle of the pack for this rural county, not at the top, but not at the bottom either. A parent moving into the area, especially one used to suburban districts with higher proficiency rates, may want to discuss with the principal how the school supports students who are not yet at the proficient level and what interventions are in place.
The housing market around Silex shows home values running a bit higher than the state average, which is not unusual for the St. Louis exurban ring that reaches into Lincoln County. The typical home is valued at a level that, with current mortgage rates, would require a household income comfortably above the national median, so affordability is a real consideration for families looking to buy. The town itself has been trying to grow — it adopted a forward-looking slogan and annexed land along the highway — but serious water infrastructure problems, including a history of contamination and shutoff threats, are a defining local issue that a family should know about. These troubles have featured in local news and suggest a town grappling with basic public works challenges that could affect quality of life and property values.
The district brief turned up no recent major changes to report, like a bond passage, a reorganization, or a curriculum overhaul. That means a parent evaluating Silex Elementary should rely on current conversations with the school and the district office to learn about any plans for facility upgrades, program additions, or staffing changes.
For a family that values a small, rural setting with a tight-knit feel and is comfortable with the trade-offs that come with a very small town — limited commercial services, a long drive to larger shopping and medical centers, and public works issues — Silex Elementary offers a neighborhood school that compares adequately with its county peers on the available test measures. A family that places a high priority on strong state test scores or wants a wide array of academic programs may find the school’s offerings thinner than what they would find in a larger district.
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