The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in Math. The lowest is 80% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Forest Grove Elementary
Forest Grove Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in the Pleasant Valley Community School District, located on the eastern side of Bettendorf. Bettendorf itself is a suburban Quad Cities city along the Mississippi River, shaped by industrial anchors like the ALCOA aluminum mill and the Isle of Capri riverboat casino. The city has seen steady population growth, and the recent I-74 Bridge project has spurred downtown redevelopment. The Pleasant Valley district covers eastern Bettendorf as well as the outlying communities of Pleasant Valley, Riverdale, and LeClaire, with four of its six elementary schools inside Bettendorf city limits. Forest Grove is one of these elementary schools.
The school is a good-sized elementary for its grade band. Its student body is predominantly white, with Asian students forming the next largest group, followed by smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. The proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is quite low, a marker of the area’s overall affluence. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available from the source used.
On the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, Forest Grove’s students performed at a high level. In both math and English language arts, the large majority of tested students scored at or above the proficiency benchmark. Science scores, while still strong, were a step lower than the results in math and reading. When compared to other elementary schools across Scott County on a combined measure of proficiency, Forest Grove placed in the top quarter of the county’s districts. This is a clear strength and signals consistent academic preparation from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Because the school serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report here. That measure applies at the high school level, and the Pleasant Valley district’s high school data would speak to that. Similarly, because this is an elementary school, there are no course access or program offerings like Advanced Placement or dual-credit pathways to describe. The school’s academic focus is on building foundational skills in the tested grades, and the results suggest it does that well.
The school is not a charter, magnet, or Title I school, according to the available data. Its location in a suburban residential setting means most families likely drive or take a bus to school; the broader Bettendorf area has an auto-oriented layout, with a concentrated commercial node along the riverfront and conventional suburban street patterns. The Pleasant Valley district has three other elementary schools inside Bettendorf, so families choosing this attendance zone are picking one of several options within the same high-performing district.
For a parent sizing up Forest Grove, the picture is straightforward. This is an elementary school where academic proficiency rates are consistently high and the student population is relatively homogeneous in socioeconomic terms. The surrounding community is a growing suburb with a mix of manufacturing and service-sector employment, a riverfront amenity corridor, and a set of schools that are distributed across the city rather than clustered in a single campus. The district brief turned up no recent major changes, such as a bond referendum or curriculum overhaul, so the operating context appears stable. A family that values strong early-grade academic results in a low-poverty suburban setting would find a good fit here. The soft spot to be aware of is the absence of data on special education and English learner populations, which a parent with a child who may need those services would want to investigate directly with the school.
See more original research from School Decision →