Well-educated

For the second consecutive year the Leopold School District came out on top in the Southeast Missourian's analysis of new data collected by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The DESE report cards for 13 area school districts cover more than 20 indicators that gauge how schools are educating their students.

The Southeast Missourian evaluated 12 of the categories. The Leopold district achieved the highest score in seven of the 12 and tied for the best score in another.

The categories include graduation rates -- Leopold's was 100 percent in 2006 -- along with teacher-student ratio, attendance and state test scores, among others.

Only 206 students are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade in the Leopold School District. Does the district excel because it's small? Size may be a factor. But some small school districts fail their students as surely as some large districts succeed.

At least anecdotally, a factor that seems to make a big difference is the community's investment in the schools, one that goes beyond money. In Leopold, teachers and their students' parents know each other well. Last year, 100 percent of the parents of Leopold elementary students attended parent-teacher conferences.

In addition, students are expected to teach each other. Discipline problems, which add up in other districts, are minimal.

In the Missouri Assessment Program tests, Leopold students outscored their peers in other area school districts in both communication arts and math by considerable amounts.

Some schools have great basketball teams. Leopold appears to have a great educational program.