The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in English language arts. The lowest is 40% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Westhaven Elementary
Westhaven Elementary sits in Belleville, a St. Clair County seat and southeastern St. Louis suburb with roots in 19th-century German settlement, a preserved historic downtown anchored by Main Street and the Public Square, and outer commercial corridors serving the wider Metro East. The area has a significant military and federal-civilian presence due to Scott Air Force Base. Housing values have risen modestly, and the local rental market has tightened over the past year. The school sits within Belleville School District 118, which recently experienced a historic surge in assessed property value, allowing the district to continue lowering tax rates while sustaining revenue—a material consideration for families weighing relocation.
Westhaven serves kindergarten through sixth grade. The enrollment is stable, spanning across grade levels with roughly balanced cohorts. The student body is predominantly Black, with substantial White and multiracial enrollment and smaller populations of Hispanic students and other groups. Free and reduced-price lunch data was not available, so understanding household income composition requires looking elsewhere.
The state testing results from the past school year show a school in transition across grades. In math, fourth grade stands out with solid proficiency, while third and fifth grades sit in the mid-range, and sixth grade shows notably lower performance. English language arts presents a similar pattern: fourth grade performs solidly, fifth grade moderately, sixth grade approaches half, and third grade lags. Science proficiency in fifth grade was modest. Illinois recently changed its state assessment cut scores, making year-over-year comparison unsafe; the data reflects current standards, not progress against prior years.
Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the county's districts, which is a meaningful position given the range of achievement across St. Clair County schools. However, the downward trend in performance as students move from fourth into fifth and especially sixth grade warrants a parent's attention. The transition into upper elementary and pre-middle grades appears to present academic challenges, and a parent may want to look into further detail with the school about how instruction and support change at those grade levels and what strategies exist to maintain momentum.
The school is a regular public school with no magnet or charter designation. It operates as a traditional neighborhood elementary, not a specialized or alternative setting. Title I status was not provided in the available data. Staffing numbers, detailed program offerings, attendance patterns, and discipline data were not available.
Belleville as a place combines a walkable historic core with auto-dependent outer neighborhoods. Downtown hosts civic anchors including the Belleville Public Library, the Lincoln Theatre, and the Public Square, plus independent restaurants and shops. The city is served by three MetroLink light rail stations connecting to St. Louis, and a shared-use bike path runs through town. The east side toward Scott Air Force Base is where most new residential and commercial activity is concentrating. Population growth has been flat, but the housing market has shown recent activity, with active listings increasing year-over-year and supply somewhat elevated for the broader market context.
A parent considering Westhaven should view it as a solid neighborhood elementary with above-county-average proficiency where fourth grade performs well. The school appears to face instructional or transition challenges in the upper elementary grades that are worth exploring directly. The district's tax position is improving, which carries real value for household economics. The community itself offers walkable downtown character alongside suburban convenience, with military employment and federal-civilian work anchoring local stability.
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