Sarcoxie schools celebrate high annual performance report scores

SARCOXIE, Mo. — A school district with one of the highest annual performance report scores in Missouri hails from the southwest region.

We learn more about the secret to success in Sarcoxie.

"It shows that whatever we're doing is working," said Dusty Feather, Wildwood Elementary Principal.

The Sarcoxie School District proudly boasts itself as one of the top schools in the state, scoring 92.8 on the latest released APR scores.

"This is one of those things where we don't do this for a score. You know, we're here to serve families, serve kids, you know. But it's pretty nice. The teachers, they work hard. The kids work hard. When that is validated," said Feather.

"It's a it's a good community is really what it is," said Grant Freeman, 7th/8th-grade math teacher.

Grant Freeman is just one of the many teachers who are helping other teachers, students, and staff achieve a high standard of learning.

"Feels really nice when you get good test scores. That's really all that. All I can do is just show up and try to be a role model for the kids. Try to get them to learn something," said Freeman.

"We're always about educating the whole child. We understand that, that this is just a piece of what we do here at school," said Zach Staples, Sarcoxie High School Principal.

Sarcoxie High School Principal Zach Staples acknowledges the district-wide effort.

"You don't want to put too much emphasis on it because ultimately we're here for kids to educate kids, and there's so many aspects of that. So many things that go into a day-to-day in school, from the social interactions to the tests to the work, to all the athletics after-school activities. There's so many parts and pieces," said Staples.

This year's rating shows a three-year growth, from a 71.6 in 2022 to an 82.1 in 2023, and now this year's 92.8.

"From our attendance to our graduation rate to our scores on state standardized tests to some scores on some college and career readiness aspects," said Staples.

That puts Sarcoxie in the top five percent of schools in the state and hopefully climbing.

"We've had three years of pretty consistent growth. So we look at what went well, what didn't and what can we fix. And grow on," said Feather.