Best Elementary Schools in Butler, MO

The city of Butler, Missouri is home to three elementary schools: Butler Elementary, Butler Early Childhood, and Ballard Elementary. These schools serve students from pre-kindergarten through 6th grade and are part of the Butler R-V and Ballard R-II school districts.

Among the three schools, Ballard Elementary stands out as the smallest, with only 62 students, but it has the lowest student-teacher ratio at 6.8. However, Ballard Elementary also has the highest spending per student at $14,640, yet its test scores, particularly in 5th grade Science, are significantly lower than the state and district averages. In contrast, Butler Elementary, the largest school with 437 students, has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Missouri elementary schools and has test scores below the state and district averages, especially in Mathematics and English Language Arts.

The data also reveals socioeconomic challenges, with Butler Elementary having the highest free and reduced lunch rate at 55.61%, indicating a higher proportion of students from low-income families. Butler Early Childhood, the only pre-kindergarten-only school, has the lowest free and reduced lunch rate at 34.91%, but it also has the highest student-teacher ratio at 24.9, which may impact the quality of early childhood education provided.