NCES CCD 2024-25 11 schools MO

Best-Resourced Schools in Cape Girardeau, MO

Compiled from official source data by .

11 public K-12 schools in Cape Girardeau from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
11
Schools
4,608
Students
52.5/100
Avg Resource Index
10.1:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Broad resource and staffing advantage

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Cape Girardeau has more public-school enrollment than 51% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Cape Girardeau lands in the upper national tier on both the average Resource Investment Index and teacher staffing intensity. Those measures come from different inputs: the index combines reported counselors, gifted access, attendance, and staffing, while the staffing percentile compares the city's student-teacher ratio directly. Agreement across both measures is stronger evidence of broad reported capacity than either score alone, though neither is a test-score rating or a guarantee about an individual classroom.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

7 of Cape Girardeau's 11 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Economic-need coverage is incomplete

Free-lunch eligibility is reported for schools covering 17.2% of Cape Girardeau's listed enrollment. Because the remaining enrollment is outside that calculation, the measured percentage should not be generalized to every local student. The Resource Investment Index uses other reported federal fields and has its own coverage limits. Treat the city figures as a map of available records: inspect a campus's source fields before using economic need or resource position in a comparison.

City enrollment
Top 49%
School count
Top 35%
Resource Index average
92nd percentile
Teacher staffing
98th percentile

Central High accounts for 27.7% of all Cape Girardeau public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Cape Girardeau-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Cape Girardeau school enrollment varies 53× across entities

Cape Girardeau school enrollment ranges from 24 students (lowest) to 1,278 students (highest), a spread of 1,254 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, with small specialty programs listed alongside large comprehensive campuses. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Cape Girardeau student-teacher ratio is 10.1:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Nell Holcomb Elem. 65
2. Franklin Elem. 65
3. Alma Schrader Elem. 58
4. Clippard Elem. 56
5. Blanchard Elem. 54
6. Central Middle 53
7. Girardot Center for Youth 53
8. Jefferson Elem. 50
9. Central Jr. High 46
10. Central High 40
11. Parkview School 38

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Cape Girardeau

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Clippard Elem. 73.3/100
  2. 2 Central Middle 69.1/100
  3. 3 Jefferson Elem. 68.4/100
  4. 4 Central Jr. High 67.9/100
  5. 5 Franklin Elem. 66.7/100

What do families ask about schools in Cape Girardeau?

Which Cape Girardeau school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Nell Holcomb Elem. has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Cape Girardeau schools in this federal-data comparison at 65/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Cape Girardeau, MO? ▼

Cape Girardeau has 11 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,608 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 10.1:1.

Other Cities in Missouri

St Louis
197 schools
Kansas City
155 schools
Springfield
61 schools
Independence
36 schools
Columbia
35 schools
St Charles
32 schools

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Missouri →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.