THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM.

THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. is an average-sized K-5 school in INDEPENDENCE, Missouri, overseen by INDEPENDENCE 30. The school teaches 401 students in grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 27% above the typical public school in Missouri, which averages around 315 students.

THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. is one of 29 schools operated by INDEPENDENCE 30, a district that educates 14,272 students overall.

In terms of who attends, THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. lists that the largest single group is White at 44%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder looks like 27% Hispanic, 18% Black, 10% multiracial. By comparison, Jackson County as a whole is about 62% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, On paper, THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. has 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 12.4:1, putting THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. higher than the state norm the norm. About 87% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Jackson County runs at roughly 60%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 49.7%, the actual is 68.0%, a residual of +18.3 points.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Jackson County) records that median household income runs about $68,577, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. is one of 244 public schools in Jackson County (combined enrollment of about 105,714 students).

The closest other public school is HANTHORN EARLY EDUCATION, roughly 1.1 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. at 3rd of 8; the average score across the group is 58.9%.

The school occupies an outer-ring site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at THOMAS HART BENTON ELEM. has fell 18%, going from 488 students in 2018 to 401 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share climbed from 17% to 27%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 16.3:1 in 2018 to 14.7:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.