Southern Boone Middle, Ashland MO

Original Research by School Decision on Southern Boone Middle

Southern Boone Middle, part of the Southern Boone County R-I district, sits in the small town of Ashland, Missouri, about halfway between Columbia and Jefferson City on US Highway 63. This is a regular public school serving grades five through eight. Ashland has grown dramatically over the past three decades, more than tripling its population, and the school district’s enrollment doubled in that same period. The town retains a historic commercial center at the intersection of Broadway and Main Streets, and many residents commute to Columbia or Jefferson City for work. The built environment is a mix of an older downtown core and newer residential development, reflecting a community that is still adding homes and infrastructure, including a recently expanded wastewater treatment facility.

Academically, Southern Boone Middle posts results that place it in the top quartile among districts in Boone County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. That is a clear strength. On state assessments, reading scores across grades five through eight are consistently in a moderate range, with a few grades showing stronger performance. Math results vary more. The fifth and seventh grades show solid proficiency, while the sixth grade math score is a bit higher. The eighth grade math proficiency, however, is notably lower than the other grades. Science scores for fifth and eighth graders are moderate as well. Because this is a middle school, there is no graduation rate to report. The school does not serve high school grades, so the typical high school metrics do not apply. Parents looking closely at the eighth grade math results may want to ask the school what supports are in place for students transitioning to high school math.

The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. About one in six students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is relatively low for the region and suggests that the community around the school is largely middle to upper-middle income. This likely reflects the commuting professional workforce and the rising home values in Ashland, which have climbed substantially in recent years. The school’s free-lunch rate can give a quick sense of the economic context, and here it points to a fairly affluent population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, nor were discipline or attendance figures, so a parent looking for a complete picture of student support and school climate would need to ask the school directly.

The housing market in Ashland has been under pressure from growth. Home values are well above the state median, and the town’s population has tripled since the 1990s. This is a fast-growing corridor, and the school district has had to keep pace. The school building itself reflects that growth. No recent district-level changes such as bond measures or curriculum shifts were found in publicly available sources, so the stability of the academic program is less documented.

Southern Boone Middle offers a regular academic program for its grade band. The school has no magnet or charter designation, and its Title I status was not reported. Without program data on specific offerings like enrichment, arts, or extracurriculars, it is hard to describe the full academic pathway. The strong district-level proficiency ranking is a positive signal, but the variability in math performance by grade suggests that student experience can differ depending on the year. Parents considering this school should visit, ask about the eighth grade math scores, and inquire about how the school supports students who are not yet proficient, as well as those who are ready for advanced work.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Science

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolSOUTHERN BOONE CO. R-I, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income61%46 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income52%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income58%34 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income12%Higher-income52%40 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income64%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income11%Higher-income43%32 pp gap