SOUTH FORK ELEM.

SOUTH FORK ELEM. operates as a modestly sized K-5 school in WEST PLAINS, Missouri, run under WEST PLAINS R-VII. Current enrollment sits at 196 students spanning grades pre-K through 6. By comparison, Missouri's public schools average about 315 students each, so SOUTH FORK ELEM. sits 38% below that benchmark.

WEST PLAINS R-VII runs 4 schools in total, collectively educating 2,626 students. SOUTH FORK ELEM. is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, SOUTH FORK ELEM. logs that nearly all students (96%) are White.

On the resource side, On paper, SOUTH FORK ELEM. has 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.7:1. The state averages about 12.4:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. About 59% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

With demographic context factored in, SOUTH FORK ELEM. tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 50.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 57.9%.

Around the school, census data for Howell County shows median household earnings sit near $50,993, roughly 18% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. Across Howell County's 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,704 students), SOUTH FORK ELEM. is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is FAIRVIEW ELEM., roughly 6.5 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, SOUTH FORK ELEM. comes 3rd of 8 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 51.6%.

The campus sits in an outlying setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 9%: 179 students in 2018 compared to 196 in 2025. Class-load math has tightened: from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.