OAK GROVE ELEM

OAK GROVE ELEM is an elementary school of sizable scale in St. Joseph, Missouri, overseen by ST. JOSEPH, serveing 502 students in grades pre-K through 6. Compared to the state average of about 315 students per school, that is 59% larger than typical.

Within ST. JOSEPH, which oversees 22 schools and 10,430 students, OAK GROVE ELEM is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, OAK GROVE ELEM shows that White students make up the majority at 61%; the rest reads as 12% Hispanic, 10% Black, 8% multiracial, 7% Asian. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 81%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.4:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 12.4:1 average. Around 33% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Buchanan County (around 69%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), OAK GROVE ELEM tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 50.6% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 50.8%.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Buchanan County indicate median household income runs about $62,158, about 24% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. OAK GROVE ELEM is one of 36 public schools in Buchanan County (combined enrollment of about 11,825 students).

Nearest neighbor: COLEMAN ELEM., around 2.4 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, OAK GROVE ELEM comes 5th of 8 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 51.1%.

The campus sits in a metropolitan setting.

Over the past 7-year window. OAK GROVE ELEM's enrollment has declined 19% since 2018, when it stood at 617 (now 502). The White share of enrollment fell from 72% to 61% over that span.

On the community side, members of the OAK GROVE ELEM community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.