B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY

B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY, a high-enrollment primary school in KANSAS CITY, Missouri, operated by KANSAS CITY 33, serves 487 students, covering grades pre-K through 6. Compared to the state average of about 315 students per school, that is 55% bigger than typical.

Across the 31 schools in KANSAS CITY 33 (15,079 students total), B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY logs that 77% of the student body identifies as Black. Other groups include 15% Hispanic, 5% White, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 22% Black, putting the school's mix visibly more Black than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.9:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 12.4:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Jackson County runs at roughly 60%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 49.4%; this one delivers 69.1%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Jackson County) records that median household earnings sit near $68,577, roughly 34% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Jackson County's 244 public schools (combined enrollment of about 105,714 students), B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is HOLLIDAY MONTESSORI, roughly 0.5 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 52.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 10%: 441 students in 2018 compared to 487 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 92% to 77% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 17.5:1 in 2018 to 14.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, members of the B. BANNEKER ELEMENTARY community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.