The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in Science. The lowest is 15% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Weller Elem.
Weller Elementary is a regular public school in Springfield, Missouri, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. It sits in the north part of the city, within the Springfield R-XII district, one of the larger districts in the state. Springfield itself is a mid-sized regional hub with a mix of commercial, medical, and educational anchors, including several universities and the headquarters of Bass Pro Shops and O’Reilly Auto Parts. The city draws families from across the Ozarks region, and its population growth has been modest in recent years.
The student body at Weller is diverse in racial and ethnic background, with a majority of students identifying as white, roughly one in five as Hispanic, and about one in seven as Black. Smaller shares of students are of two or more races, American Indian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or Asian. The school’s enrollment of around that size for its grade band gives it a scale where teachers and staff are likely to know students individually. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that this school serves a population with considerable economic need. That economic context shapes the kind of resources and support that families and the school may require.
State testing results from the most recent year show that proficiency rates across math, English language arts, and science are low compared with typical elementary schools in the state. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranged from a small share in grade three to roughly one in five in grade five. In ELA, the picture improved somewhat by grade five, where about a third of students met the proficiency bar, but the earlier grades were well below that. In science, only a limited share of fifth graders were proficient. The overall proficiency index, which combines all tested subjects and grades, places Weller in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Greene County. The school has only one year of testing data available in this profile, so it is not possible to say from these records whether performance has been stable, improving, or declining over time. A parent may want to ask the school directly about trends and about the specific interventions in place.
Because Weller is an elementary school, it has no graduation rate and no secondary-level course offerings such as Advanced Placement or career pathways. Student support data like attendance, discipline rates, and special education or English learner counts were not available in the sources used for this profile, so those are gaps a family would need to investigate on their own.
The housing market in the ZIP code around the school sits at a level that is modest relative to national benchmarks, with home values below the national median. Rents are also moderate when measured against typical incomes. The area offers a range of housing options, though specific new developments were not detailed in available information. The broader Springfield economy is supported by the two largest hospital systems, several universities, and major corporate headquarters, providing a stable employment base.
At the district level, voters approved a facility improvement bond in 2023 that funds HVAC, roofing, safety upgrades, and classroom renovations across the district, and it did so without raising property taxes. The district also launched a middle school redesign in the 2023-2024 school year, restructuring schedules and expanding elective options, though that change affects older students and not the elementary grades directly. Still, it signals that the district is actively rethinking programming.
For a family considering Weller Elementary, the central point to weigh is the academic performance picture. The school serves a high-needs population, and the testing data shows that most students are not yet reaching the state proficiency standard in core subjects. A parent would want to understand what academic support and enrichment are available, how the school addresses the impact of poverty on learning, and what progress the school has made or plans to make. The school’s setting in a large district with ongoing capital investments and a stable local economy provides some structural stability, but the classroom outcomes are the headline.
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