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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,108
High
DISTRICT 657 · STATE 501
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WEST PLAINS R-VII·NCES 293168002215
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH
602 E OLDEN, WEST PLAINS, MO 65775 · (417) 256-6150 · Howell County
GRADES 09–12HIGH33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,108 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 47% of Missouri public high schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Missouri public high schools
Student : Teacher
16.4:1
67 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 12.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
556 students
DISTRICT 63% · STATE 54%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 317 | 29% |
| Grade 10 | 282 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 279 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 230 | 21% |
Student demographics
16%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 18% · STATE 52% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
60.7%
MO avg 44.9% . +1.6pp since 2021
Math
36.8%
MO avg 43.8% . -15.2pp since 2021
What this means: On the MAP, Missouri's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Missouri schools, those numbers are about 45 and 44. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2021, while math scores are down about 15 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Advanced | Proficient | Basic | Below Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 7.3% | 53.4% | 27.1% | 12.0% |
| Math | 16.4% | 20.4% | 31.2% | 32.0% |
Share of tested students at each MAP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
MAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 60.7% | 36.8% |
| 2023-24 | 49.7% | 32.5% |
| 2022-23 | 56.8% | 39.8% |
| 2021-22 | 59.1% | 52.0% |
% Proficient + Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: MAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
37.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.1%
based on MO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% typical for Missouri schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Missouri's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH's state test result (37.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH this school | 1,108 | 50.2% | 37.8% |
| LEBANON SR. HIGH LEBANON | 1,439 | 53.4% | 31.5% |
| NEVADA HIGH NEVADA | 754 | 47.2% | 33.8% |
| FARMINGTON SR. HIGH FARMINGTON | 1,354 | 45.7% | 43.0% |
| HANNIBAL SR. HIGH HANNIBAL | 1,048 | 49.7% | 46.5% |
| FREDERICKTOWN HIGH FREDERICKTOWN | 611 | 50.2% | 38.5% |
Matched among Missouri high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.8% | #215 of 443 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 36.8% | #239 of 453 ▲ 18 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.7% | #84 of 382 ▲ 62 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -6.8pp | #39 of 231 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,108 | #87 of 561 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.4:1 | #286 of 343 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.2% | #231 of 343 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.2% | #182 of 455 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.8% | #96 of 151 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,108
-6 (-1%) vs 2020
+3% since 1990-91, when it was 1,076
Student : Teacher
16.4:1
was 18.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,108 | 67.3 | 16.4:1 | 50% (556) |
| 2023-24 | 1,145 | 64 | 17.9:1 | 49% (564) |
| 2022-23 | 1,162 | 63.8 | 18.2:1 | 41% (482) |
| 2020-21 | 1,114 | 59 | 18.9:1 | 38% (426) |
| 2017-18 | 1,037 | 56.7 | 18.3:1 | 45% (465) |
| 2015-16 | 1,091 | 59 | 18.5:1 | 43% (469) |
| 2010-11 | 1,159 | 65 | 17.8:1 | 26% (306) |
| 2000-01 | 1,296 | 59 | 22.0:1 | 15% (200) |
| 1990-91 | 1,076 | 50 | 21.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (1,037 to 1,108); teachers up 19% (56.7 to 67.3).
About WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH
Families in WEST PLAINS, Missouri, are served by WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH, a large high school. It has an enrollment of 1,108 students in grades 9 through 12. On average, high schools in Missouri enroll around 501, and this school is 121% above that mark.
WEST PLAINS R-VII, which runs WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH, has 4 schools and 2,626 students.
Roughly 91% of students at WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH are White. The remaining students are 4% Hispanic and 2% multiracial. Howell County residents are about 92% White, a similar share. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH scores 16%.
There are 67.3 full-time-equivalent teachers at WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH, giving a ratio of 16.4:1. The school's 16.4:1 compares with an average of 12.2:1 for high schools in Missouri. By family income, 50% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The rate at public schools in Howell County averages 61%, higher than here.
On the allk12 Grade, WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH lands at B-, ahead of 47% of Missouri public high schools.
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 37.8%, compared with a predicted 41.1%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Missouri schools on BeatsExpectations.
Looking at the county, Howell County, the median household earns about $50,993 a year, 18% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH, Howell County has 15 public schools.
About 0.2 miles separate WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH from the closest public school, WEST PLAINS MIDDLE. Other public schools within five miles: 7. On average proficiency, WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH is 8th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
NCES describes the area around WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH as Town: Remote, meaning in a town far from an urbanized area.
The student count changed little between 2020-21 (1,114) and 2024-25 (1,108). The school's ratio dropped from 18.9:1 to 16.4:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
This page is set up for the WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Howell County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
40,383
Census ACS
Median income
$50,993
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
15
5,704 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WEST PLAINS R-VII
- WEST PLAINS ELEM.Elementary · 767 students
- WEST PLAINS MIDDLEMiddle · 555 students
- SOUTH FORK ELEM.Elementary · 196 students
- SOUTHERN MO TECH INSTITUTEHigh
Other schools in WEST PLAINS
- WEST PLAINS ELEM.Elementary · 767 students
- WEST PLAINS MIDDLEMiddle · 555 students
- FAIRVIEW ELEM.Elementary · 466 students
- RICHARDS ELEM.Elementary · 389 students
- GLENWOOD ELEM.Elementary · 252 students
- HOWELL VALLEY ELEM.Elementary · 201 students
Nearby schools
- WEST PLAINS MIDDLE0.2 mi · 555
- WEST PLAINS ELEM.0.5 mi · 767
- HOWELL VALLEY ELEM.2.1 mi · 201
- OZARK HORIZON SCHOOL2.6 mi · 17
- JUNCTION HILL ELEM.3.5 mi · 186
- GLENWOOD ELEM.4.2 mi · 252
Frequently asked questions
About WEST PLAINS SR. HIGHWhat is the total enrollment at WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH?
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH enrolls approximately 1,108 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH serve?
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH?
The student-to-teacher ratio at WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH is approximately 16.4:1 (67 FTE teachers).
How diverse is WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH?
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH reports a student body of 91% White, 4% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH in?
WEST PLAINS SR. HIGH is part of WEST PLAINS R-VII.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.