6 Missouri School Districts Get D Grades for 2026—But Why?

Most of us are accustomed to getting grades from school, but in this case it's the schools that are receiving the grades and many in Missouri are not getting good ones. A new ranking for 2026 gives 6 Missouri school districts a D grade, but I have some big questions.

Niche has just released their school rankings looking ahead into the new year of 2026

I will confess that I feel unqualified to be talking about grades. I won't share how I did in school, but let's just say that I am familiar with the grade of D. Perhaps that should qualify me to share what Niche says are the school districts in Missouri that received a D grade specifically for academics. Here they are in the order that Niche listed them:

• Special School District of St. Louis County
• Chilhowee R-IV School District
• Riverview Gardens School District
• Madison C-III School District
• Normandy School District
• Hogan Preparatory Academy

There are some very important questions to ask about why these school districts were dinged for their educational achievements. First, the methodology is key to understanding how they came to these conclusions. Here is what Niche said about how they decide the grades:

"The 2026 Best School Districts ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Ranking factors include state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, teacher quality, public school district ratings, and more."

They also added that they have NOT included SAT or ACT scores this year so college preparation is not a part of how they decide if these school districts are doing a good job. There's also a Missouri school for the disabled that was included that I omitted because that is a type of education which needs to be judged using unique metrics, in my opinion. You should also know that there are several other categories used to rate Missouri schools including teachers, diversity and sports. As is the case with any ranking you see on the internet, this should only be a jumping off point for your own research. Several of these Missouri school districts that received D grades have really decent individual reviews from parents. That's why this is an interesting list, but should not be the full conclusion about what type of education they're offering the students there.