The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 38% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Du Quoin Elementary School
Du Quoin Elementary serves prekindergarten through fourth grade in a small southern Illinois city where coal mining shaped the community's past and the annual state fair remains central to local identity. The school enrolls a broad cross-section of the town's younger students, and its student body is predominantly white, with smaller representations of multiracial, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students.
On state math and English language arts assessments administered in the most recent school year, the school's proficiency rates sit below half. In math, third graders reached proficiency at a rate somewhat above third graders' fourth-grade counterparts. Fourth graders' English language arts performance exceeded their math results by a meaningful margin. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint compared to other districts in Perry County, though the absolute proficiency rates remain modest. Science assessment data for the elementary grades were suppressed by the state, so direct comparison there is not available.
The school serves a student population of mid-size for an elementary school, distributed fairly evenly across its grade band. Enrollment does not appear to concentrate in any single grade. Free or reduced price lunch eligibility data were not available, so a reader cannot measure economic disadvantage from that metric. Special education and English learner counts were not disclosed.
Du Quoin as a place is navigating a period of deliberate, slow-paced development. Housing values in the zip code are substantially lower than both the state and national benchmarks, and the monthly mortgage estimate is modest. The city's major recent initiative is a senior housing development underway with state support. Local employment centers on health care, retail, and manufacturing, anchored by Marshall Browning Hospital and the Prysmian Group cable plant. A walkable historic downtown along Main Street holds the library, shops, and restaurants; outside that core, the town is sparse and car-dependent, with an average commute under a half hour.
A consequential change for families to know about: in December 2025, the district terminated all after-school programming across its three schools after federal Full-Service Community Schools grant funding was cut by executive order. The K-8 after-school program, which roughly a hundred students relied on daily for snacks, homework help, and enrichment, ended immediately. High school tutoring, ACT prep, and paid after-school student employment also ceased. Unless funding is restored, these services will remain unavailable through the end of the 2025-2026 school year, a material loss for working families who used after-school care.
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