In the newest US News & World Report rankings of America’s schools grades K - 8, Fort Zumwalt middle schools and elementary schools are again among Missouri’s best.
All told, the organization ranked more than 79,500 public elementary schools and more than 59,000 public middle schools. Of the almost 1,500 Missouri middle schools ranked, Fort Zumwalt’s middle schools were in the Top 100. Of the almost 1,800 Missouri elementary schools ranked, Fort Zumwalt elementary schools were in the top third.
State by state, U.S. News assessed schools by looking at student proficiency in math and reading as measured by state assessments. Half of the US News ranking formula was the results, the other half was the context of socioeconomic demographics.
“In other words, the top-ranked schools are high achieving ones that succeeded in educating all of their students,” the organization states on its notification website to schools. “All data for the rankings are from third-party sources, including the U.S. Department of Education.”
You can read more about the methodology here. Because two Fort Zumwalt elementary schools only serve grades K - 2, which the state does not test, those schools are ineligible for the rankings. In September, US News & World Report ranked all four Fort Zumwalt comprehensive high schools among America’s Best for the eighth consecutive year, listing them in the top 12 percent nationally.