Enrollment
199
Elementary
STATE 315
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KELSO C-7·NCES 291647000895
KELSO ELEM.
820 STATE HWY A, BENTON, MO 63736 · (573) 545-3357 · Scott County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL199 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
16 FTE teachers
STATE 12.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
19%
37 students
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
Test scores
MO DVT (Growth) 2024-25 . Growth Percentile vs PeersEnglish Language Arts
74.0%
MO avg 49.5% . +33.3pp since 2023
Math
51.0%
MO avg 48.7% . -2.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the MO DVT (Growth), Missouri's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 33 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Source: MO DVT (Growth). All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
51.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.9%
based on MO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 51% typical for Missouri schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Missouri's top nor bottom 10%.
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
199
+69 (+53%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 9.8:1
% White
98%
was 98%
% Black
2%
was 2%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About KELSO ELEM.
KELSO ELEM. is one of the low-enrollment primary schools in BENTON, Missouri, overseen by KELSO C-7, with 199 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 8. That puts it 37% smaller than the typical public school in Missouri, which averages around 315 students.
KELSO ELEM. sits inside KELSO C-7, the local public-school operator responsible for the campus.
In terms of who attends, KELSO ELEM. logs that the student body is overwhelmingly White (98%). That is considerably more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 82%.
Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, KELSO ELEM. has 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.4:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 19% of students at KELSO ELEM. qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is lower than Scott County's rate of about 78%.
On a demographically-adjusted basis, KELSO ELEM. performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.9%, the actual is 51.8%, a residual of +0.9 points.
In the broader community, ACS estimates for Scott County put median household earnings sit near $62,782, about 22% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Scott County runs 22 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,999 students), of which KELSO ELEM. is one.
ORAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 4.5 miles from this campus. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, KELSO ELEM. comes 2nd of 9 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 42.1%.
Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.
Over the past 7-year window. KELSO ELEM.'s enrollment has increased 53% since 2018, when it stood at 130 (now 199). Class-load math has rose: from 9.8:1 in 2018 to 12.4:1 in 2025.
On the community side, members of the KELSO ELEM. community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Scott County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
37,933
Census ACS
Median income
$62,782
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
22
5,999 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in BENTON
- SCOTT CO. ELEM.Elementary · 410 students
- THOMAS W. KELLY HIGHHigh · 297 students
- SCOTT CO. MIDDLEMiddle · 195 students
Nearby schools
- ORAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL4.5 mi · 139
- ORAN HIGH SCHOOL4.5 mi · 165
- CHAFFEE ELEM.5.5 mi · 293
- CHAFFEE JR.-SR. HIGH5.8 mi · 269
- SCOTT CITY HIGH6.3 mi · 268
- SCOTT CITY ELEM.6.3 mi · 282
Frequently asked questions
About KELSO ELEM.How many students attend KELSO ELEM.?
KELSO ELEM. enrolls approximately 199 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does KELSO ELEM. serve?
KELSO ELEM. serves grades PK-08.
How many students per teacher at KELSO ELEM.?
Approximately 12.4:1 students per teacher at KELSO ELEM..
How diverse is KELSO ELEM.?
KELSO ELEM. reports a student body of 98% White, 2% Black, 1% Two or more.
Is KELSO ELEM. public or private?
KELSO ELEM. is a public K-12 school, overseen by KELSO C-7.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.