High Mount Elem School, Swansea IL

Original Research by School Decision on High Mount Elem School

High Mount Elementary School serves a small enrollment spanning pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Swansea, a suburban village east of St. Louis in St. Clair County. The school is part of High Mount School District 116 and sits within a community built largely along a north-south commercial corridor, with room for residential subdivisions, light-rail transit access, and proximity to Scott Air Force Base.

The student body is mixed in race and ethnicity. About a third of students are Black, roughly a third are white, roughly a seventh are two or more races, and smaller shares are Hispanic or Asian. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch rates, English learner counts, or special education identification rates, so a parent should ask the district directly about economic disadvantage and support services on campus.

State test results from the most recent year show math proficiency well below typical. Across grades three through eight, proficiency rates range from very low single digits to a high of about a third in third grade, with most grades under fifteen percent. English language arts results are stronger and less uneven: third-grade proficiency is around half, fifth grade is near forty percent, and grades six through eight sit in the low-to-mid fifties, which indicates a clearer strength. Science testing in fifth and eighth grade shows low proficiency overall. The data show full or near-full test participation, and assessment cut scores changed statewide in 2024-25, so trend comparisons from prior years are not available. A parent may want to discuss with the school what supports exist for math and what changes are underway to address these results.

The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the county's public school districts. That positioning reflects the particularly soft math results. English language arts performance at the upper grades breaks that pattern somewhat.

The community itself shows markers of steady suburban growth tied to the MetroLink station and base employment. Housing values and rents are moderate for the St. Louis metro area. The village mixes residential subdivisions, retail and office corridors, and public parks including Schranz Memorial Park with a playground and splash pad. Retail and trade, health care, and professional services are common employment sectors for local residents, alongside federal employment at Scott Air Force Base.

High Mount is one of two school districts serving Swansea families. The school district data did not surface recent referendums, major curriculum shifts, or other district-wide parent-relevant changes, so specific new initiatives are not available to report here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 36%

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

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 13%

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

Grade 54%

School 4% · District 4%

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 611%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 714%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 6%

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

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52%

even with state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 13%

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 24%

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

This schoolHigh Mount SD 116, 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.