South Shores Elem School, Decatur IL

Original Research by School Decision on South Shores Elem School

South Shores Elementary is a small school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Decatur, Illinois, with about mid-range enrollment for its grade span, distributed fairly evenly across each grade. The student population is diverse: roughly half of students are Black, approaching a third are white, and smaller shares are multiracial and Hispanic. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, limiting a full picture of economic vulnerability within the school population.

On state assessments in 2024-25, South Shores' results show very low proficiency in both English language arts and math across all tested grades. In math, proficiency ranges from essentially zero to low single digits depending on grade. English language arts scores are similarly low, hovering in the low double digits only at sixth grade. Science proficiency, tested in fifth grade, is also very low. These results place the school well below the median performance of other schools in Macon County. Participation in testing is full across the board, so absences or opt-outs are not explaining the gap.

Note that Illinois changed its proficiency cut scores for the 2024-25 assessment year, which means direct year-to-year comparison would be unreliable. Multi-year trend data was not available, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether proficiency has been consistently low or whether this represents a shift. The school is part of a broader district-level strategic planning effort, Roadmap2030, that will examine facility use and program organization over the next few years; that initiative could affect operations or programming at elementary buildings in ways families should monitor.

The school sits in Decatur proper, a mid-sized central Illinois city rooted in agricultural and industrial processing (notably as a major soybean-processing center). Downtown Decatur has a walkable historic core around Merchant Street with brick buildings, parks, and local shops, but most of the city is auto-oriented residential and industrial sprawl. Housing in the area is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. Decatur's population has been gradually declining, though the city has pursued downtown revitalization and begun multi-phase affordable housing development through the Village at Legacy project, with Phase I expected to complete in 2025. Major employers include ADM (agricultural processing and biomanufacturing), Caterpillar, regional hospitals, Millikin University, and the schools themselves. A new Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Tech Hub anchored by ADM and others is positioning Decatur as a center for advanced manufacturing and biotech.

The school is a traditional public elementary without a charter or magnet designation. Starting in the 2024-25 school year, Decatur Public Schools implemented a comprehensive bell-to-bell electronic devices ban, requiring students in all grades to keep phones, tablets, smart watches, and earbuds in lockers during the entire school day. This is a daily reality that shapes classroom experience and should factor into how families think about the school environment.

Given the very low state assessment proficiency, a parent may want to understand what academic interventions or support structures the school has in place, how staffing is configured, and whether the school can detail its approach to improving outcomes in tested subjects. The low proficiency should be a starting point for conversation with school leadership about instructional practices, student assessment cycles within the school, and what families can expect in terms of progress monitoring and communication.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 11% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 45%

School 5% · District 9% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 52%

School 2% · District 6% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 5% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 13%

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

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 18% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 52%

School 2% · District 17% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 18% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 15% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

This schoolDecatur SD 61, 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.