El Sierra Elem School, Downers Grove IL

Original Research by School Decision on El Sierra Elem School

El Sierra Elementary serves pre-K through sixth grade in Downers Grove, a western Chicago suburb known for its walkable downtown anchored by the BNSF Metra station, mix of mid-century and historic housing, and a notably high rate of teardown-and-rebuild activity. The school enrolls a small cohort of students with a student body that skews toward white, with substantial representation of Hispanic and Asian students, and a smaller share of Black students. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility data was not available, so a reader cannot assess the economic composition of the enrollment from the data provided.

On the 2024-25 Illinois Assessment of Readiness, El Sierra's performance is uneven across grades and subjects. In third-grade math, students reached proficiency at a solid rate. Fourth-grade math proficiency drops notably to half of students meeting the standard. By fifth grade, math proficiency falls further, and this pattern holds in English language arts as well, where fifth-grade results fall to less than half. Sixth-grade results rebound modestly in both subjects, with ELA rising above three-quarters. Science results, available only for fifth grade, show the lowest performance across all subjects tested, with about a third of students meeting standard. The school does not yet have testing results for seventh or eighth grade, reflecting its transition into the sixth-grade grade band; state testing is not administered below third grade, so no data exists for pre-K through second grade.

Within the comparison set of districts in DuPage County, El Sierra's overall proficiency index positions the school below the midpoint. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly regarding the sharp performance drop between third and fourth grade and the concentration of lower proficiency in fifth-grade math and science.

The district has passed a substantial facilities bond referendum that raised property taxes beginning in 2022, with work scheduled through summer 2026. The funds are renovating all buildings, including the middle schools, which will soon accommodate sixth graders. Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, Downers Grove GSD 58 is restructuring from a K-5 and 6-8 model to a pre-K-5 and 6-8 model, moving sixth graders out of elementary schools into the two middle schools. For families with school-age children in the district, this represents both a grade-span change and a shift in where their child will attend school. The facilities investment and the grade reconfiguration are material changes that define the district context as one of active transition and capital improvement over the next year.

El Sierra sits on its own neighborhood campus rather than in downtown Downers Grove proper. The broader community offers a Metra station and downtown Main Street shopping and dining within the village, along with active parks and library services. The housing market in the zip code shows modest appreciation year-over-year and typical regional inventory patterns.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 67% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 69% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 63% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 69% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 76% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 74% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 79%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 65% · ▼ 30 pts below district

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

This schoolDowners Grove GSD 58, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income39%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income9%Higher-income31%22 pp gap