The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 36% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Morgan Co. Elem.
Morgan Co. Elem. is the elementary school for the Morgan County R-II School District in Versailles, a small county-seat town in central Missouri. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade and is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Enrollment is large enough to fill a half-dozen grade-level classrooms, and the student body is overwhelmingly white with small numbers of Hispanic students and children of two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, marking a high-needs population.
The school's academic performance on the Missouri Assessment Program shows a clear downward pattern as grade levels rise. In third grade, just under half of students met proficiency benchmarks in English language arts, and a slightly lower share did so in math. By fourth grade, those rates dropped by a visible margin in both subjects. By fifth grade, the share of students scoring proficient or above in English language arts and in math fell to around one-quarter to one-third. Science results for fifth grade were suppressed, meaning the data was not reported. When placed against the only other district in Morgan County, the school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades lands near the top of that very narrow field, but in absolute terms the numbers signal that many students are not reaching grade-level targets. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic support is in place.
Because this is a K-5 school, there is no graduation rate to consider. Civil rights data on discipline, special education identification, and English learner services was not available, so the school's work in those areas cannot be assessed from this record.
Versailles itself is a traditional small town organized around a courthouse square, with the Morgan County Courthouse and the Martin Hotel museum at its center. The town hosts community events like the Old Tyme Apple Festival, the Morgan County Fair, a summer rodeo, and Fourth of July fireworks. Highways 5 and 52 meet nearby, and the town markets itself as the gateway to the Lake of the Ozarks, a regional recreation destination. The built environment is car-oriented rural small-town, and street life is concentrated around events rather than daily foot traffic. The city maintains four parks, a public pool, a public library, and a theater. Housing values are modestly below the state median, and the typical home in the area costs less than the national norm, consistent with a lower cost of living. The town is growing at a modest rate.
The Morgan County R-II district has been active in recent facility and technology improvements. Voters approved a bond issue in 2022 for roof replacements, HVAC upgrades, security work, and classroom renovations across all school buildings, with no tax rate increase because it replaced retiring debt. The district's property tax levy has since decreased. By the 2023-2024 school year, the district fully rolled out a 1:1 technology initiative, providing Chromebooks to every student in grades three through twelve and shared devices for kindergarten through second grade, along with digital curriculum resources. These investments suggest a district trying to modernize its infrastructure and classroom tools, though the academic results remain uneven.
For a family considering this school, it offers a mid-sized elementary setting in a stable rural community with recent facility upgrades and a device-for-every-student program. The town is affordable and has a clear civic and seasonal-event identity. The main consideration is that tested proficiency rates decline across elementary grades, meaning a parent should actively engage with the school about academic supports, particularly as students move into the upper elementary years. Information on special education and English learner services is absent from this data, so those conversations would need to happen directly with the school.
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