William Southern Elementary

Summary:

William Southern Elementary is a public elementary school located in Independence, Missouri, serving grades PK-5 with a student population of around 430. The school is part of the Independence 30 school district, which is ranked 235 out of 376 districts in Missouri and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

William Southern Elementary has a more diverse student population compared to the nearby schools, with a higher percentage of African American (30.23%) and Hispanic (15.58%) students. However, the school's academic performance, as measured by MAP test scores, is generally lower than the state and district averages, particularly in mathematics. For example, in 2022-2023, only 36% of 3rd graders, 15.3% of 4th graders, and 45.3% of 5th graders were proficient or better in mathematics, compared to the state averages of 41.1%, 43.8%, and 39.1%, respectively. This may be due to the high percentage of students (around 72%) who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a higher proportion of students from low-income families. The school also has a higher student-teacher ratio (18.8 in 2022-2023) compared to the nearby schools, such as Sycamore Hills Elementary and John W. Luff Elementary, which have generally higher academic performance and lower percentages of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Despite the overall lower academic performance, William Southern Elementary's African American students have performed exceptionally well, ranking 36th out of 185 Missouri elementary schools in 2022-2023 and 1st out of 163 in 2020-2021 for this subgroup. However, the school's statewide ranking has declined over the years, from 284th out of 1,052 Missouri elementary schools in 2018-2019 to 506th out of 898 in 2022-2023, suggesting that the school may be struggling to keep up with the academic performance of other schools in the state. To improve overall academic outcomes, the school and Independence 30 district may need to focus on targeted interventions and additional resources to support the unique needs of its diverse student population.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 4300 S Phelps Rd
       Independence, MO  64055-5102


(816) 521-5475

District: Independence 30

SchoolDigger Rank:
506th of 898 Missouri Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $13,108 Help


Students who attend William Southern Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Bridger Middle
    Pioneer Ridge Middle
High:    Truman High

Student/teacher ratio:  18.8 Help
Number of students:  430

Racial breakdown:

White:
41.6%
African American:
30.2%
Hispanic:
15.6%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  72.8% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details William Southern Elementary ranks worse than 56.3% of elementary schools in Missouri. It also ranks 9th among 19 ranked elementary schools in the Independence 30 School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2023 the calculated Average Standard Score was 45.18. (See more...)
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Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
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Compare Details Student population at William Southern Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (41.6%), African American (30.2%), Hispanic (15.6%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 72.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at William Southern Elementary is 18.8, which is the highest among 20 elementary schools in the Independence 30 School District! (See more...)
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Compare William Southern Elementary employs 22.8 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at William Southern Elementary is $13,108, which is the 7th highest among 19 elementary schools in the Independence 30 School District.
Schooldigger 2023 Rankings:

William Southern Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks William Southern Elementary 506th of 898 Missouri public elementary schools. (See William Southern Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:
African American students:
White students:


Independence 30:

SchoolDigger ranks Independence 30 235th of 376 Missouri school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for William Southern Elementary

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Compare

Rank History for all students at William Southern Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MO State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 71.15 227th 1074 78.9%
2007 66.17 290th 1080 73.1%
2008 53.02 512th 1084 52.8%
2009 50.79 559th 1053 46.9%
2010 50.92 568th 1066 46.7%
2011 51.53 583rd 1088 46.4%
2012 42.34 716th 1085 34.0%
2013 29.99 877th 1108 20.8%
2014 51.64 545th 1089 50.0%
2015 48.02 590th 1058 44.2%
2016 42.48 542nd 865 37.3%
2017 30.58 779th 1032 24.5%
2018 44.60 585th 1045 44.0%
2019 68.99 284th 1052 73.0%
2021 32.30 637th 901 29.3%
2022 35.46 597th 908 34.3%
2023 45.18 506th 898 43.7%
See the entire list of Missouri Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at William Southern Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MO State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 65.34 11th 41 73.2%
See the entire list of Best Missouri Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at William Southern Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MO State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 56.77 344th 887 61.2%
2019 79.76 86th 907 90.5%
2021 57.23 189th 574 67.1%
2022 38.83 328th 532 38.3%
2023 55.72 223rd 611 63.5%
See the entire list of Best Missouri Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for African American students at William Southern Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MO State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 67.25 53rd 243 78.2%
2019 71.38 44th 250 82.4%
2021 95.22 1st 163 99.4%
2023 66.95 36th 185 80.5%
See the entire list of Best Missouri Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for White students at William Southern Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MO State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 43.99 506th 898 43.7%
2019 78.13 150th 917 83.6%
2023 44.55 368th 673 45.3%
See the entire list of Best Missouri Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

William Southern Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Enrollment information for William Southern Elementary

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1991 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a 652 652
1992 601 13 8 5 2 n/a n/a 0 629
1993 608 15 7 8 2 n/a n/a 0 640
1994 580 14 9 7 1 n/a n/a 0 611
1995 566 16 10 41 3 n/a n/a 0 636
1996 566 16 10 41 3 n/a n/a 0 636
1997 617 19 11 13 4 n/a n/a 0 664
1998 567 28 13 15 7 n/a n/a 0 630
1999 549 25 15 19 5 n/a n/a 0 613
2000 500 23 18 19 4 n/a n/a 0 564
2001 410 22 11 21 2 n/a n/a 0 466
2002 411 48 9 28 3 n/a n/a 0 499
2003 411 48 9 28 3 n/a n/a 0 499
2004 444 50 12 33 3 n/a n/a 0 542
2005 396 55 15 32 4 n/a n/a 0 502
2006 369 48 19 48 6 n/a n/a 0 490
2007 380 62 13 55 8 n/a n/a 0 518
2008 371 70 18 57 7 n/a n/a 0 523
2009 341 113 13 57 7 n/a n/a 0 531
2010 315 136 12 69 5 n/a n/a 0 537
2011 306 133 9 78 5 0 13 0 544
2012 295 143 8 62 3 1 22 0 534
2013 310 143 12 67 1 1 32 0 566
2014 295 139 9 71 1 2 33 0 550
2015 287 137 7 72 1 1 22 0 527
2016 273 134 8 70 1 1 36 0 523
2017 266 138 6 65 2 4 44 0 525
2018 244 126 3 57 1 10 54 0 495
2019 235 123 8 52 0 10 54 0 482
2020 210 130 5 60 0 9 49 0 463
2021 172 122 3 61 0 9 54 0 421
2022 167 121 3 66 0 7 41 0 405
2023 179 130 5 67 2 8 39 0 430

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at William Southern Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1991 652 31.9 20.4 n/a
1992 629 32.2 19.5 10
1993 640 32.4 19.8 14.8
1994 611 35.4 17.3 16.5
1995 636 35.9 17.7 19.5
1996 636 35.9 17.7 19.5
1997 664 37.1 17.9 19.4
1998 630 34.8 18.1 20.6
1999 613 39.2 15.6 0
2000 564 36.3 15.5 27.8
2001 466 29.4 15.9 24
2002 499 29.3 17.0 27.1
2003 499 29.3 17.0 27.1
2004 542 29.6 18.3 31.9
2005 502 29.1 17.3 39
2006 490 31.7 15.5 37.6
2007 518 30.6 16.9 39.4
2008 523 34.3 15.2 41.1
2009 531 39.0 13.6 47.3
2010 537 32.3 16.6 54.2
2011 544 30.2 18.0 57
2012 534 33.2 16.0 61.8
2013 566 32.6 17.3 61.5
2014 550 31.7 17.3 55.6
2015 527 31.0 17.0 60.5
2016 523 35.0 14.9 62.7
2017 525 31.3 16.7 62.7
2018 495 30.2 16.3 67.7
2019 482 30.2 15.9 66.6
2020 463 30.2 15.2 67.4
2021 421 26.0 16.1 66.5
2022 405 26.1 15.4 62.7
2023 430 22.8 18.8 72.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio William Southern Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1991 652 31.9 20.4 n/a
1992 629 32.2 19.5 10
1993 640 32.4 19.8 14.8
1994 611 35.4 17.3 16.5
1995 636 35.9 17.7 19.5
1996 636 35.9 17.7 19.5
1997 664 37.1 17.9 19.4
1998 630 34.8 18.1 20.6
1999 613 39.2 15.6 0
2000 564 36.3 15.5 27.8
2001 466 29.4 15.9 24
2002 499 29.3 17.0 27.1
2003 499 29.3 17.0 27.1
2004 542 29.6 18.3 31.9
2005 502 29.1 17.3 39
2006 490 31.7 15.5 37.6
2007 518 30.6 16.9 39.4
2008 523 34.3 15.2 41.1
2009 531 39.0 13.6 47.3
2010 537 32.3 16.6 54.2
2011 544 30.2 18.0 57
2012 534 33.2 16.0 61.8
2013 566 32.6 17.3 61.5
2014 550 31.7 17.3 55.6
2015 527 31.0 17.0 60.5
2016 523 35.0 14.9 62.7
2017 525 31.3 16.7 62.7
2018 495 30.2 16.3 67.7
2019 482 30.2 15.9 66.6
2020 463 30.2 15.2 67.4
2021 421 26.0 16.1 66.5
2022 405 26.1 15.4 62.7
2023 430 22.8 18.8 72.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for William Southern Elementary

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $1,432 (13.5%) $9,143 (86.5%) $10,576
2020 $1,754 (15.8%) $9,335 (84.2%) $11,089
2021 $2,293 (20.4%) $8,946 (79.6%) $11,239
2022 $3,715 (28.3%) $9,393 (71.7%) $13,108

Data source: Missouri Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on William Southern Elementary

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 284th of 1052 Elementary schoolsRanks 506th of 898 Elementary schools
 29.4%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Mathematics (William Southern Elementary)50.736
 14.7%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Independence 30)38.528.3
 10.2%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Missouri)4641.1
 4.9%
3rd Grade English Language Arts (William Southern Elementary)54.444
 10.4%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Independence 30)4436.4
 7.6%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Missouri)48.742.4
 6.3%
4th Grade Mathematics (William Southern Elementary)58.815.3
 43.5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Independence 30)43.330.1
 13.2%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Missouri)46.843.8
 3%
4th Grade English Language Arts (William Southern Elementary)55.338
 17.3%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Independence 30)47.138.1
 9%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Missouri)49.345.9
 3.4%
5th Grade Mathematics (William Southern Elementary)46.845.3
 1.5%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Independence 30)37.235.6
 1.6%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Missouri)40.339.1
 1.2%
5th Grade Science (William Southern Elementary)52.144.6
 7.5%
   5th Grade Science (Independence 30)42.438.6
 3.8%
   5th Grade Science (Missouri)42.540.6
 1.9%
5th Grade English Language Arts (William Southern Elementary)60.645.2
 15.4%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Independence 30)46.639.5
 7.1%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Missouri)47.144.1
 3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students482430
 10.8%
African American123130
 5.7%
American Indian02
Asian85
 37.5%
Hispanic5267
 28.8%
Pacific Islander108
 20%
White235179
 23.8%
Two or More Races5439
 27.8%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients66.6%72.8%
 6.2%


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Frequently Asked Questions about William Southern Elementary

Students at William Southern Elementary are 42% White, 30% African American, 16% Hispanic, 9% Two or more races, 2% Pacific Islander, 1% Asian.

In the 2022-23 school year, 430 students attended William Southern Elementary.

Students who attend William Southern Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Bridger Middle
Middle : Pioneer Ridge Middle
High : Truman High

William Southern Elementary ranks 506th of 898 Missouri elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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