The top reported proficiency rate is 21% in Science. The lowest is 19% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on St. Louis Lang Immersion Sch
The St. Louis Language Immersion School operates as a single-school charter district in St. Louis city, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Its central identity is a dual-language immersion program, and it functions as a charter school — a status that directly shapes a family’s planning horizon. The charter was renewed in 2024, securing the school’s continued operation through at least 2029, which is the most consequential decision for any family weighing enrollment. For a school of this type, renewal is the foundational gatekeeper of existence.
The school is small, with enrollment spread across grades in a pattern that tapers upward: larger classes in the primary grades and smaller ones in middle school. A new French pre-kindergarten classroom is set to open in fall 2026, a response to what the school describes as unprecedented enrollment growth over the last few years. This expansion creates an earlier entry point for families seeking immersion in French, where none existed before.
The student body is predominantly Black, with a large Hispanic share and smaller groups of students who identify as two or more races, White, and American Indian or Alaska Native. Data on students receiving free or reduced-price meals, on students with disabilities, and on English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the support programs in place for these populations.
On state assessments, proficiency rates are generally low, but the context matters. The school’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among St. Louis city’s districts, meaning it outperforms many of its immediate urban peers even though the absolute percentages are modest. In the earlier tested grades, math and English language arts proficiency rates are in the low to mid teens for third and fourth graders, with somewhat higher rates in fifth grade, particularly in ELA. Science results for fifth grade follow a similar pattern. By middle school, small class sizes mean some grade-level results are suppressed to protect student privacy, so a full picture of performance in grades six through eight is not available. Parents looking at these numbers will want to consider that immersion students may take time to reach proficiency in tested English-language content, and the school’s mission is not captured by a single metric.
Chronic absenteeism, a key concern in many urban districts, is a relative bright spot. The school’s rate falls in the top quartile among St. Louis city’s districts, meaning it has one of the lower shares of students with excessive absences. Per-pupil current spending is in the upper half of the middle range compared to other city districts, suggesting a reasonable level of resourcing.
Because the school only serves up to eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. Families enrolling will need to plan for a transition to a high school after eighth grade, whether that means applying to other city schools, charter high schools, or district options.
The growth in enrollment noted by the school and the expansion into pre-kindergarten signal that this is a program with rising demand, likely driven by families specifically seeking language immersion in an urban setting. For a parent or resident, the school’s appeal is tied directly to its dual-language mission: it offers a distinctive academic pathway that blends language acquisition with general education, in a small-school environment within a major city. The test scores are lower than many suburban norms, but the school’s performance relative to other St. Louis city districts is above average, and its chronic absenteeism is notably low. The charter renewal provides a stable outlook through the end of the decade. Any family considering this school will want to visit, ask about special education and English learner services, and confirm which languages are offered at which grade levels — the data here does not detail the full language lineup beyond the pre-kindergarten French expansion.
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