HALE COOK ELEMENTARY vs ENGLISH LANDING ELEM.

Hale Cook Elementary holds a 0.4-point overall edge over English Landing Elem., scoring 9.2/10 against English Landing's 8.8/10. In Missouri's statewide rankings, that gap is sharper than the numbers alone suggest: Hale Cook Elementary sits at #30 of 2,216 Missouri schools, while English Landing Elem. ranks #87 of 2,216 — a spread of 57 positions in a field that includes every elementary, middle, and high school in the state. Both schools are genuine top-tier performers, but Hale Cook's statewide placement is notably more selective.

The academic scores are nearly identical — English Landing Elem. edges Hale Cook Elementary 9.3 to 9.2 — making proficiency essentially a wash. The meaningful academic difference is in growth: Hale Cook Elementary scores 9.4/10 on student growth versus English Landing Elem.'s 8.9/10, a half-point gap that reflects how much academic progress students make year over year relative to peers statewide. For families who care whether a school accelerates learning rather than simply reflecting incoming ability, Hale Cook's growth advantage is the more actionable data point.

The two schools diverge most sharply on demographics. Hale Cook Elementary enrolls 354 students with a 100% free and reduced-price lunch rate, indicating a student body composed almost entirely of economically disadvantaged families. English Landing Elem. enrolls 434 students with a 30% FRL rate, serving a substantially less economically stressed population. Student-teacher ratios run close in both buildings — 14.2:1 at Hale Cook Elementary versus 13.2:1 at English Landing Elem. — so class size is not a differentiating factor. The FRL contrast, however, is substantial and shapes school culture, resource allocation, and peer composition in ways that go beyond a single metric.

On grade coverage, Hale Cook Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through 6th grade, giving families an earlier on-ramp and an additional year before the middle-school transition. English Landing Elem. runs kindergarten through 5th grade only, so families will need a middle-school plan one year sooner. The two schools are 15.4 miles apart, making a deliberate cross-district choice a real logistical commitment rather than a marginal detour.