SOUTHLAND ELEM.

SOUTHLAND ELEM., a cozy elementary-level community in CARDWELL, Missouri, operated by SOUTHLAND C-9, teaches 150 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 52% smaller than the state mean of about 315.

Within SOUTHLAND C-9, which oversees 2 schools and 262 students, SOUTHLAND ELEM. is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, SOUTHLAND ELEM. logs that the largest single group is White, at 79% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school reports 19% Hispanic, 2% multiracial. Compared to Dunklin County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 12.4:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

After controlling for student poverty, SOUTHLAND ELEM. tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 49.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 39.1%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Dunklin County indicate the typical household earns roughly $47,849 per year, roughly 13% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 16% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Dunklin County's 21 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,864 students), SOUTHLAND ELEM. is one campus in the mix.

SOUTHLAND HIGH is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 5 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts SOUTHLAND ELEM. at 4th of 9; the average score across the group is 41.0%.

The campus sits in a rural setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count stayed largely flat: 151 students in 2018 compared to 150 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 11.7:1 in 2018 to 15.0:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the SOUTHLAND ELEM. community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.