Franklin Elem School, Belleville IL

Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Elem School

Franklin Elem School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Belleville, an industrial-residential county seat southeast of St. Louis with a historic downtown core and commercial corridors anchored by healthcare, government, and military employment around nearby Scott Air Force Base. The school is a regular public school in Belleville School District 118.

The school serves a small student body composed of roughly half Black students, just under a third white students, a modest share of Hispanic students, and a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available.

State testing results from the 2024-25 school year show consistent struggles across subjects and grades. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from very low in grades three through five to moderate in grade six. In English language arts, results are similarly uneven, with very low proficiency in grades three and four, improving to around half of students meeting proficiency benchmarks in grades five and six. Science proficiency in grade five was notably low. Test participation rates across the school are strong, hovering near or at full participation, which means these results reflect what students are actually demonstrating on assessments. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among districts in St. Clair County on this measure.

The academic picture is one in which younger elementary grades are showing particular difficulty meeting grade-level standards, while older elementary grades demonstrate somewhat stronger—though still modest—performance. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what reading and math support structures are in place, especially for grades three through five, and what changes or interventions the school is undertaking in response to these results.

The school is located at a downtown address in the heart of Belleville's residential-commercial area, near the historic district and within the walkable core where the Public Square, Main Street, and Belleville Public Library are clustered. MetroLink transit is accessible, and the neighborhood is mixed-use residential with institutional anchors nearby.

The broader district context includes recent housing appreciation that has raised the equalized assessed value substantially, allowing the district to continue lowering property tax rates while maintaining operational revenue—a concrete fiscal advantage for families evaluating whether to move into or remain in the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 33% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 36% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 54%

School 4% · District 22% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 30% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 32% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 50% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 53% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 55% · ▼ 5 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 34% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 22 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.