Mason/clark Middle Sch, East Saint Louis IL

Original Research by School Decision on Mason/clark Middle Sch

Mason/Clark Middle School serves grades five through eight in East St. Louis, a small, predominantly residential city across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis. The school enrolls roughly students, the substantial majority of whom are Black students. The student body is economically challenged; data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility was not available, but the school's geographic context and enrollment composition suggest families face substantial economic barriers.

The most immediate finding from the state assessment data is that proficiency rates across mathematics, English language arts, and science are very low. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from around one percent in grade six to roughly seven percent in grade five and grade seven. English language arts performs slightly better, with proficiency ranging from twelve to roughly twenty percent by grade eight, the highest performance band at the school. Science proficiency sits around eleven percent in both tested grades. These are among the lowest numbers in St. Clair County; when compared against the districts in that county, Mason/Clark's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. The school does maintain strong test participation—roughly ninety-seven percent or higher across all subjects and grades—and assessment cut scores did shift statewide in 2024-25, making direct comparison to prior years difficult, but the current performance picture shows very substantial academic challenges across the student body.

A parent may want to look into the school's specific supports for students working well below grade-level expectations in reading and mathematics, particularly for sixth and seventh graders, and whether intervention programs, tutoring, or alternative instructional models are in place to address this gap.

The district housing market is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. Median home value in the area is modest, and mortgage payments as well as rents are low, putting homeownership within reach for families on moderate incomes. However, the housing stock is older and vacancy is high throughout East St. Louis, lending much of the residential landscape a sparse character.

At the district level, East St. Louis SD 189 has undertaken meaningful changes in college and career readiness. The district began implementing school-wide AVID strategies starting in elementary school and launched an enhanced diploma program with College and Career Pathway Endorsements. More substantially, the district expanded a Running Start partnership with Southwestern Illinois College, allowing high school students to earn an associate's degree before graduation. The district also broke ground in 2026 on a major Career and Technical Education facility expansion at the high school, funded almost entirely by a state grant, with completion expected around mid-2027. That addition will introduce new programs in HVAC and machine tool technology and significantly expand pathways in industry certifications, dual credit, and apprenticeships. These initiatives address a real constraint: prior space limitations had turned away interested students from CTE programs.

Mason/Clark is a neighborhood middle school in a district actively reshaping its college and career offerings at the secondary level, but current achievement data shows that elementary and middle-grade students are entering those pathways from a position of very low proficiency in foundational academics.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 8% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 62%

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

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

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 6% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 82%

School 2% · District 7% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 28% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 27% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 45 pts below county median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 30% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 28% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 14% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 13% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

This schoolEast St Louis SD 189, 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.