LAWSON MIDDLE

LAWSON MIDDLE operates as a compact 6-8 campus in LAWSON, Missouri, run under LAWSON R-XIV. Current enrollment sits at 342 students spanning grades 5 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 26% leaner than the state mean of about 461.

Within LAWSON R-XIV, which oversees 3 schools and 1,143 students, LAWSON MIDDLE is one campus in the system.

On demographics, LAWSON MIDDLE reports that 96% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at school resources, The school lists 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.1:1. The state averages around 13.0:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 24% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Ray County (around 39%), the school's rate is somewhat below typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, LAWSON MIDDLE sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 50.8%; this one delivers 65.7%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Ray County shows the typical household earns roughly $74,573 per year, roughly 16% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Ray County's 12 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,423 students), LAWSON MIDDLE is one campus in the mix.

LAWSON HIGH is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 3 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), LAWSON MIDDLE ranks 1st on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 37.5%.

LAWSON MIDDLE operates from a low-density location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 3%: 351 students in 2018 compared to 342 in 2025.

On the community side, 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.