NCES CCD 2024-25 9 schools MO

Best-Resourced Schools in Salem, MO

Compiled from official source data by .

9 public K-12 schools in Salem 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
9
Schools
2,169
Students
49.1/100
Avg Resource Index
11.3:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Broad resource and staffing advantage

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Salem has more public-school enrollment than 15% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Salem 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

4 of Salem's 9 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.

A small portfolio contains radically different campus scales

Salem lists only 9 schools, yet reported enrollment runs from 5 to 606 students, a 121-fold range. In a portfolio this compact, the smallest record may be a specialized or nonstandard setting rather than a miniature version of the largest campus. That distinction affects how ratios and program fields should be read. Compare similarly configured grade levels first; combining the extremes into one city average conceals more than it explains.

City enrollment
Top 85%
School count
Top 46%
Resource Index average
84th percentile
Teacher staffing
93rd percentile

Salem Sr. High accounts for 27.9% of all Salem public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Salem-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

Salem school enrollment varies 121× across entities

Salem school enrollment ranges from 5 students (lowest) to 606 students (highest), a spread of 601 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. 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

Salem operates 6 school districts — among the most fragmented governance structures in the country

Each school district has independent budgeting, hiring, and service delivery authority. The fragmentation reflects historical patterns of inter-municipal boundary lines that pre-date modern city growth, students in different parts of the same city can attend different districts with different per-pupil spending, calendars, and graduation requirements. Per-region variation is largest in fragmented systems because each school district sets its own budget, contracts, and priorities without higher-level coordination above the regulatory floor.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Salem student-teacher ratio is 11.3:1 — 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. Dent-Phelps Elem. 64
2. Ozark Hills School 60
3. Oak Hill Elem. 55
4. Green Forest Elem. 54
5. Wm. H. Lynch Elem. 47
6. Salem Upper Elem. 45
7. North Wood Elem. 44
8. Salem Middle School 42
9. Salem Sr. High 31

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Salem

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 Ozark Hills School 32.0/100
  2. 2 Salem Middle School 29.3/100
  3. 3 Salem Upper Elem. 23.8/100
  4. 4 Wm. H. Lynch Elem. 21.6/100
  5. 5 North Wood Elem. 18.1/100

What do families ask about schools in Salem?

Which Salem school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Dent-Phelps Elem. has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Salem schools in this federal-data comparison at 64/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Salem, MO? ▼

Salem has 9 public schools with a total enrollment of 2,169 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 11.3:1.

Other Cities in Missouri

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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.