The top reported proficiency rate is 73% in English language arts. The lowest is 60% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on East Dubuque Elem School
East Dubuque Elementary School is a small PreK through 6th grade public school in a quiet residential community along the Mississippi River, part of East Dubuque USD 119 in Jo Daviess County. The school sits on a campus separated from downtown, serving a mixed small-city and rural population that is predominantly white, with modest racial and ethnic diversity.
Enrollment is small, under a few hundred students spread across eight grade levels from PreK through 6th grade. The school draws from a population where most families own their homes and the overall character is spare and residential rather than urban. No data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was available, nor on the rate of students with IEPs or English learners, so a parent may want to look into those details directly with the school if that information matters to their decision.
In English language arts, the school shows mixed performance across the grades tested. Third grade proficiency is in the mid-range, fourth grade and sixth grade both show solid performance, and fifth grade stands out as notably stronger. Participation rates are very high across grades, with nearly all or all students taking the assessment. Math performance is more uneven. Third, fourth, and fifth grades show moderate proficiency levels, but sixth grade performance in math drops significantly, and no testing results appear for grades 7 and 8, which the data indicates is because this is an elementary school and those grades are not housed here. In science, only fifth grade is tested under the state's assessment calendar; that grade showed moderate proficiency. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school in the top quartile among the eight districts in Jo Daviess County, a position that reflects solid average performance rather than exceptional strength.
The school has very high test participation. One grade (third) showed a participation rate just under full; grades 4, 5, and 6 had participation at or near complete. This suggests the school is effectively reaching families with testing information and keeping absences on test days low.
East Dubuque sits in a small river town with population roughly flat over recent decades but with recent annexations and development proposals aimed at adding new housing, especially entry-level and downsizer homes. The local major employer is a nitrogen fertilizer plant, but many residents commute across the Julien Dubuque Bridge into Dubuque, Iowa, where larger employers including John Deere draw regional labor. Housing values in the area are below both the Illinois state median and the national median, making it a relatively affordable housing market. Home ownership is typical here; the town has a sparse, suburban character with neighborhoods climbing the bluffs above the river, and street life is concentrated in the small downtown strip along Sinsinawa Avenue.
No recent major district referenda, curriculum overhauls, or other parent-facing policy changes were found in public records, so the school appears to operate in a relatively stable governance context. The district brief search did not surface active initiatives or strategic shifts that would alter the educational landscape in the near term.
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