GLADDEN ELEM.

GLADDEN ELEM. is a moderately sized elementary school in BELTON, Missouri, one of the schools within BELTON 124. The school works with 326 students in grades K through 4.

Within BELTON 124, which oversees 8 schools and 4,230 students, GLADDEN ELEM. is one campus in the system.

Demographically, GLADDEN ELEM. logs that White students make up the majority at 59%. The remainder reads as 18% Hispanic, 13% multiracial, 9% Black. That is noticeably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 85%.

On the resource side, On paper, GLADDEN ELEM. has 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.6:1. The state averages around 12.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 69% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Cass County runs at roughly 35%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, GLADDEN ELEM. performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.0%, the actual is 67.5%, a residual of +17.5 points.

Zooming out to the county, Cass County reports that the typical household earns roughly $87,535 per year, 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Across Cass County's 44 public schools (combined enrollment of about 17,093 students), GLADDEN ELEM. is one campus in the mix.

Wilckens STEAM Acad @Hillcrest is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around GLADDEN ELEM.. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), GLADDEN ELEM. ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 52.8%.

The campus sits in a bedroom-community setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at GLADDEN ELEM. has showed little movement, going from 331 students in 2018 to 326 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 68% to 59%. Class-load math has fell: from 13.2:1 in 2018 to 11.6:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the GLADDEN ELEM. community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.