Belle Valley School, Belleville IL

Original Research by School Decision on Belle Valley School

Belle Valley School serves prekindergarten through eighth grade in Belleville, a mixed-use county seat and St. Louis suburb. The school enrolls a diverse student body, with about three-fifths Black students, about a fifth white, and the remainder spread across Asian, Hispanic, multiracial, and other backgrounds. The school carries an enrollment of roughly a thousand students across all grade bands it serves.

The academic profile shows uneven performance. In English language arts, the school's results improve noticeably in the upper grades: third and fourth graders show proficiency rates in the mid-range, fifth graders around a third, but sixth, seventh, and eighth graders move into stronger territory, with eighth grade at the high end. Math proficiency is consistently weaker. Across third through eighth grade, proficiency rates are notably low and relatively flat, hovering in the low to high twenties. Science results, reported only for fifth and eighth grade, show fifth graders below a third but eighth graders near half. When averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school sits below the midpoint among St. Clair County's districts in overall proficiency, a positioning that merits attention if academic gains are a priority for a family considering the school.

Test participation is strong; the school achieved near-universal participation rates across both subjects and grades. The data does not include prior-year results or trend information, so it is not possible to assess whether performance is improving, stable, or declining. Illinois altered its proficiency cut scores in the current school year, which affects year-to-year comparison; the state testing data was not available prior to this year's results.

The school is a regular public school operated by Belle Valley School District 119, a small district serving Belleville. The district brief did not surface parent-relevant changes or recent strategic initiatives, though this gap may simply reflect limited public reporting rather than inactivity. A parent interested in understanding the district's direction and any recent shifts in school operations would benefit from checking directly with the school or district office.

Belleville itself is a residential and commercial city with a historic downtown core, outer retail corridors, and a significant population tied to nearby Scott Air Force Base. The housing market shows modest home values and rental costs, with recent price movement downward year-over-year. The city's economy rests on healthcare, education, government, and military-related employment. Street life concentrates in the historic downtown along Main Street, though the city overall is car-dependent. Three MetroLink light rail stations connect Belleville to St. Louis. The neighborhood texture mixes 19th-century cottages, older residential blocks, and newer commercial development; population has been flat to slightly declining at the city level, though the east side toward Scott Air Force Base has seen steadier residential and commercial activity.

Belle Valley School's academic challenges in math and early literacy development are concrete facts worth exploring with the school directly. A parent should ask what interventions the school is using in these areas, what reading and numeracy supports exist for struggling students, and whether the school can point to any cohorts or classroom-level data showing growth. The school serves a majority-Black student body in a region where racial disparities in academic outcomes are common across Illinois; understanding how the school is addressing those patterns specifically would be important context for any family's decision.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolBelle Valley SD 119, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.