CENTRAL ELEM.

CENTRAL ELEM. is one of the roomy elementary campuss in UNION, Missouri, run under UNION R-XI, with 643 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 104% above the state mean of about 315.

Across the 5 schools in UNION R-XI (3,120 students total), CENTRAL ELEM. accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, CENTRAL ELEM. logs that nearly all students (89%) are White. Other groups include 5% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 2% Black. Compared to Franklin County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the resource side, On paper, CENTRAL ELEM. has 56 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.5:1. The state averages around 12.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 53% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Franklin County (around 43%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, CENTRAL ELEM. sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 50.3%; this one delivers 59.1%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Franklin County indicate the typical household earns roughly $73,165 per year, about 24% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. CENTRAL ELEM. is one of 41 public schools in Franklin County (combined enrollment of about 15,025 students).

UNION MIDDLE is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 5 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), CENTRAL ELEM. ranks 1st on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 44.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-center area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at CENTRAL ELEM. has edged down 13%, going from 738 students in 2018 to 643 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.