Enrollment
223
Elementary
DISTRICT 252 · STATE 315
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KEARNEY R-I·NCES 291645000891
KEARNEY ELEM.
902 S JEFFERSON, KEARNEY, MO 64060 · (816) 628-4113 · Clay County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY31-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL223 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.1:1 · STATE 12.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
32%
72 students
DISTRICT 20% · STATE 54%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within KEARNEY R-I. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MO DVT (Growth) 2024-25 . Growth Percentile vs PeersEnglish Language Arts
29.1%
MO avg 49.5% . +15.2pp since 2023
Math
42.6%
MO avg 48.7% . +16.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the MO DVT (Growth), Missouri's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Missouri schools, those numbers are about 50 and 49. Reading and writing scores are up about 15 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 16 points.
Source: MO DVT (Growth). All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MO schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
23.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.7%
based on MO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-27.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 23% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 51% typical for Missouri schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
223
-47 (-17%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
was 12.6:1
% White
89%
was 91%
% Hispanic
4%
was 3%
% Asian
0%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About KEARNEY ELEM.
KEARNEY ELEM. is a low-enrollment K-5 school in KEARNEY, Missouri, run under KEARNEY R-I. The school educates 223 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 315 students per school, that is 29% smaller than typical.
KEARNEY ELEM. is one of 9 schools operated by KEARNEY R-I, a district that caters to 3,424 students overall.
Looking at the student body, KEARNEY ELEM. logs that nearly all students (89%) are White. Other groups include 4% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That is visibly more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 79%.
In terms of school funding signals, On paper, KEARNEY ELEM. has 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.4:1. The state averages around 12.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 32% of students at KEARNEY ELEM. qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, KEARNEY ELEM. is in the bottom 10% of Missouri public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 50.7%; KEARNEY ELEM. posts 23.5%, -27.2 points below that line.
Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Clay County) records that the typical household earns roughly $88,468 per year, 37% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Clay County's 80 public schools (combined enrollment of about 41,553 students), KEARNEY ELEM. is one campus in the mix.
KEARNEY EARLY EDUCATION CENTER is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, KEARNEY ELEM. comes 8th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 58.9%.
The school occupies a small-town site.
Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at KEARNEY ELEM. has fell 17%, going from 270 students in 2018 to 223 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 12.6:1 in 2018 to 11.4:1 today.
On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Clay County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
258,122
Census ACS
Median income
$88,468
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
80
41,553 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in KEARNEY R-I
- KEARNEY HIGHHigh · 814 students
- KEARNEY MIDDLEMiddle · 591 students
- KEARNEY JR. HIGHHigh · 510 students
- DOGWOOD ELEM.Elementary · 463 students
- SOUTHVIEW ELEM.Elementary · 455 students
- HAWTHORNE ELEM.Elementary · 264 students
Other schools in KEARNEY
- KEARNEY HIGHHigh · 814 students
- KEARNEY MIDDLEMiddle · 591 students
- KEARNEY JR. HIGHHigh · 510 students
- DOGWOOD ELEM.Elementary · 463 students
- SOUTHVIEW ELEM.Elementary · 455 students
- HAWTHORNE ELEM.Elementary · 264 students
Nearby schools
- KEARNEY EARLY EDUCATION CENTER0.3 mi · 44
- KEARNEY MIDDLE0.3 mi · 591
- HAWTHORNE ELEM.0.7 mi · 264
- KEARNEY HIGH1.1 mi · 814
- SOUTHVIEW ELEM.1.3 mi · 455
- LENS1.4 mi · 60
Frequently asked questions
About KEARNEY ELEM.What is the total enrollment at KEARNEY ELEM.?
KEARNEY ELEM. enrolls approximately 223 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does KEARNEY ELEM. serve?
KEARNEY ELEM. serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at KEARNEY ELEM.?
The student-to-teacher ratio at KEARNEY ELEM. is approximately 11.4:1 (19 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at KEARNEY ELEM.?
At KEARNEY ELEM., the student body is approximately 89% White, 4% Hispanic, 2% Black, 4% Two or more.
Is KEARNEY ELEM. public or private?
KEARNEY ELEM. is a public K-12 school, overseen by KEARNEY R-I.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.