Douglas Elem School, Belleville IL

Original Research by School Decision on Douglas Elem School

Douglas Elementary School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Belleville, Illinois, as a regular public school in Belleville School District 118. The school has a small enrollment composed of roughly equal shares of Black and white students, with a smaller mixed population of students of color. About a quarter of the enrollment is in kindergarten; the remaining students are spread across grades one through six.

The school's state assessment results show uneven performance across grades and subjects. In mathematics, third and sixth grade students perform at roughly the midpoint of proficiency, while fourth grade shows considerably weaker results and fifth grade shows notably low performance. English language arts results are similarly mixed: third through sixth graders cluster in the range of just under half to about two-thirds proficient, with sixth grade noticeably stronger than the grades below it. Science testing, available only for fifth grade, shows low proficiency. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among districts in St. Clair County, but the grade-to-grade and subject-to-subject variability suggests uneven mastery. Test participation rates are high across the board.

The data does not include chronic absenteeism rates, school discipline records, teacher staffing, or the free-or-reduced-price lunch count, so a complete picture of student support systems and school environment is not available. Similarly, information about specific programs, course offerings, or special services at the school was not provided.

Belleville itself is the St. Clair County seat and a southeastern St. Louis suburb with a mixed-use character: a historic, walkable downtown core with independent shops and restaurants clustered around the Public Square and Main Street, and outer commercial corridors serving the wider region. The city has a notable military and federal civilian population tied to Scott Air Force Base. The housing market is tightening, with median home values appreciating modestly year-over-year and homes selling faster than in the prior year. Belleville School District 118 has benefited from a significant recent surge in local property values, allowing it to lower tax rates while maintaining operating revenue—a meaningful change for families considering the district.

Douglas Elementary's location on Carlyle Avenue places it within the city's residential neighborhoods. A parent may want to look into the school's specific instructional approaches and intervention systems further with the school itself, given the variation in test performance across grades, and to ask about what supports are in place for students not yet meeting proficiency.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 33% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 36% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 22% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 30% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 32% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 50% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 53% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 668%

School 68% · District 55% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

This schoolBelleville SD 118, 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.