The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Science. The lowest is 46% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington Elem School
Washington Elem School is a small elementary school in Bloomington serving kindergarten through fifth grade. The school enrolled just over 350 students at the time this data was collected, distributed across its six grade levels. The student body reflects Bloomington's demographics: the majority of students are white, with Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students making up the rest of the enrollment. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so family income composition cannot be assessed from the school's report.
On Illinois state testing (IAR for English language arts and math, ISA for science), Washington Elem's proficiency results fall modestly. In third-grade math, about half the students reached proficiency. Fourth-grade math dipped lower, below half the class. By fifth grade, math proficiency climbed slightly above half. In English language arts, third and fourth graders hovered near half proficiency, but fifth graders performed notably better, with proficiency near the high end reported. Fifth-grade science proficiency reached roughly seven in ten students. The school's overall proficiency index, averaging across all tested subjects and grades, sits above the midpoint when compared to other districts in McLean County, though not in the upper tier.
The school sits in Bloomington, a mid-sized central Illinois city anchored by State Farm and other corporate employers, with a walkable downtown historic district. Residential neighborhoods spread from the downtown core, and the school's location on East Washington Street places it within the city proper. Housing values in the Bloomington zip code are moderate relative to state and national benchmarks, and rents have risen modestly year over year. The area has been in constrained housing growth despite regional demand rising sharply from Rivian and Ferrero expansion nearby, so families considering the neighborhood should note that new construction is lagging and the city is shifting toward renovation and rehab of existing stock.
District 87 has undertaken several notable changes in recent years. A newly formed Bloomington Career Academy, housed in a former State Farm building, now offers career and technical education pathways. Pre-K capacity is expanding into the same facility, with the Sarah E. Raymond School of Early Education expected to move there in August 2026, ending a prior waiting list. The district adopted the English 3-D curriculum for middle and high school English language learners, splitting newcomers from more advanced multilingual students. A new cell-phone-in-classroom ban was rolled out to address disciplinary referrals. And in April 2025, McLean County voters approved a county school facility sales tax, a funding shift that took effect in July 2025 and is dedicated to facility improvements, school resource officers, and mental health professionals, offering some property-tax relief for residents.
Assessment cut scores changed between prior years and 2024-25, so trend data from earlier years was not available in this report. The school's enrollment is stable and typical for a neighborhood elementary school in its district. Families considering Washington Elem should have access to the detailed testing data on file and may want to discuss with the school its instructional approach to reading and math in the early grades, where proficiency sits closer to half the class, and the school's approach to student support and intervention.
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