The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Pittman Elem.
Pittman Elementary is a regular public school in Springfield, Missouri, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It operates within the Springfield R-XII district, the city’s sole public school system. The school sits in a residential area on the city’s eastern side, near the Bennett Street corridor.
The student body is diverse, with a white majority alongside notable Hispanic, Black, and multiracial populations. More than two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that signals a school serving a substantial number of families with lower household incomes. Federal and district resources for this population are likely a major factor in the school’s operations, though specific Title I status is not reported in the available data.
Academically, Pittman presents a mixed picture when measured against state assessments. In fourth-grade math, roughly two in five students scored at the proficient level or above, and in fifth grade the share was about three in ten. Third-grade math proficiency was lower, at around one in six students. In English language arts, performance was notably stronger: fourth and fifth graders both landed near the midpoint of the state’s proficiency scale for those grades, with just over half of students meeting the standard. Third-grade ELA results were not reported due to data suppression, which is common when the number of test-takers is small. In fifth-grade science, just under half of students were proficient.
When compared to other elementary schools across Greene County, Pittman’s combined proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the seven districts with elementary-level data in the county. This comparison is instructive but should be read with the understanding that the county contains a wide range of school types and student populations. A parent considering Pittman will want to take a close look at how the school supports students in math, where the trajectory is flat compared to the brighter results in reading.
The school is a neighborhood institution, not a magnet or charter. There is no publicly reported data on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios, so the day-to-day climate and resource levels are harder to assess from the outside. Its grade span is limited to elementary, which means no middle or high school graduation rates apply here, and no advanced course access is tracked.
Springfield itself is a mid-sized regional hub with a diversified economy anchored by healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. The two largest hospital systems are the city’s top employers, and major corporate headquarters give the area an economic base that is more stable than many peer communities. Housing in Pittman’s ZIP code is priced near the statewide benchmark for Missouri, with home values at a moderate level relative to national averages. Rents have risen modestly. The unemployment rate is consistent with the national picture, and median household income in the region is slightly below the national figure.
The district has two recent developments a family should know about. Voters approved a bond issue in 2023 that funds facility upgrades across the district without raising the property tax levy, meaning Pittman may see improvements to HVAC, roofing, or safety infrastructure in the near term. Separately, the district has launched a middle school redesign that changed bell schedules and expanded elective offerings; this will affect Pittman students once they move on to a district middle school.
Families considering Pittman should weigh the relatively high share of students from lower-income backgrounds and the uneven math outcomes against the school’s solid reading proficiency and the broader resources of a large, stable district. It is a school where a parent’s active engagement with the classroom experience, particularly in math, is likely to matter.
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