Westport Middle School, Springfield MO

Original Research by School Decision on Westport Middle School

Westport Middle School, a regular public school in Springfield, Missouri, serves grades six through eight as part of the Springfield R-XII district. The school sits within a mid-sized regional hub, a city that functions as a center for healthcare, retail, logistics, and manufacturing, and is home to major corporate headquarters. The school’s enrollment is moderate for a middle school, and the vast majority of its students come from economically disadvantaged households, with a very substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with notable populations of Hispanic and Black students, and smaller groups of students who identify as two or more races, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native. Data on the share of students with individualized education plans or those who are English learners was not available.

Academic performance at Westport is a central point for families to weigh. On the Missouri Assessment Program, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced in math was low across all three grade levels. English language arts results followed a similar pattern, with proficiency rates that are also low. Science results, tested only in eighth grade, fell in the same range. When placed among the middle schools in Greene County, Westport’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile. These are clear signals that a parent looking at this school should want to understand what academic supports are in place and how the school is working to raise achievement.

Because Westport is a middle school only, there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism and discipline were not available in the source materials, so a full picture of school climate and attendance patterns is incomplete. No information on course access, such as advanced or elective offerings, was included in the data either.

The district context adds a few important details. Springfield R-XII voters recently approved a sizable bond issue for facility improvements, structured to avoid a property-tax increase, which will fund HVAC, roofing, safety upgrades, and classroom renovations across the district. More directly relevant to Westport families is a district-wide middle school redesign that launched recently. This initiative restructured bell schedules, expanded exploratory and elective offerings, and adjusted teaming structures. For a school where academic proficiency is a challenge, a redesign of this scope could represent a meaningful shift in how students experience the school day, but the available data does not yet show its effect on outcomes.

The housing market in the zip code area shows home values and rents that are below the state-level benchmark, which is consistent with a mid-sized Midwestern city where housing is more affordable than in many parts of the country. The typical mortgage payment and rent on the local market would both be manageable relative to national median household income, though the local median income figure was not provided in the data to put that comparison on firm footing.

For a family considering Westport, the picture is straightforward. The school serves a high-poverty population in a district that has made a recent, deliberate investment in middle school programming and facilities. The core academic results are low, and the school sits at the bottom of the county's middle school distribution. A parent would want to visit, talk to the principal about the redesign's implementation, and ask about specific interventions for math and reading before making a decision. There is no indication from the data of special magnet or selective programs that would change the school's fundamental mission as a neighborhood middle school serving its attendance zone.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 45% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 713%

School 13% · District 44% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 40% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 616%

School 16% · District 41% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 43% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 46% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Science

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 42% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

This schoolSPRINGFIELD R-XII, 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 7Lower-income19%Higher-income22%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income8%Higher-income22%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income18%5 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income13%Higher-income12%1 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income12%Higher-income23%11 pp gap