The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Beckemeyer Elem School
Beckemeyer Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Hillsboro, a small county seat in Montgomery County. The school enrolls roughly 640 students, drawn from Hillsboro and surrounding rural areas. The enrollment is predominantly white, with most other students identifying as multiracial or Hispanic. Data on free and reduced-price lunch eligibility and the share of English learners were not available.
The school's test results show uneven performance across grades. In English language arts, third grade proficiency is at roughly the midpoint, fourth grade is above it, and fifth grade is substantially stronger. In mathematics, third grade performs near the midpoint, but performance drops notably by fourth grade and declines further by fifth grade. Science testing in fifth grade shows proficiency near four in ten. The pattern here is not unusual in elementary schools: younger students in the tested grades often show stronger results, while students at the top of the elementary band sometimes show lower attainment. A parent may want to ask the school directly about this trajectory and what interventions or supports exist for students in the upper grades, particularly in math.
On a county comparison of overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, Beckemeyer sits in the top quartile among Montgomery County's districts. This reflects the fact that when results are averaged across all tested grades and subjects, the school's performance edges above the county median, despite the specific grade-by-grade softness just noted.
Hillsboro itself is a quiet, stable small city of a few thousand residents. The downtown is compact and walkable around a historic courthouse square, with recent investment bringing independent shops, restaurants, a brewery, a coffee roaster, loft apartments, and a restored movie theater. The broader landscape is county government, banking, healthcare, corrections, manufacturing, and coal mining. Population has been flat to slightly declining over the past decade. Housing is affordable by national standards, with median values well below both state and national benchmarks, and year-over-year price movement has been modest. This is not a boom market; it is a stable, low-cost, car-dependent place where people tend to stay.
The district made a significant capital commitment in 2022, winning approval for a bond-funded replacement of the aging main building at Hillsboro High School, with construction underway and expected completion in 2026. More recently, the Board voted unanimously to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students district-wide, a recurring benefit that lowers household costs for every family with children in the schools.
No data were available on the school's staffing, attendance, or chronic absenteeism rates.
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