Milton Pope Elem School, Marseilles IL

Original Research by School Decision on Milton Pope Elem School

Milton Pope Elementary is a small K-8 school in Marseilles, a blue-collar river town of roughly a few thousand residents in central Illinois, about eighty miles southwest of Chicago. The school enrolls a small student body spread across ten grades, with the largest concentrations in early elementary and a noticeable taper in the upper grades. The population is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic representation and very few students of other backgrounds.

Testing data from the Illinois Assessment of Readiness shows a pattern worth understanding: the school performs better in the early elementary grades and in reading than in mathematics, and it faces significant challenges in the middle grades. In third and fourth grade, proficiency rates in English language arts reach above average levels. By fourth grade, math proficiency is also solidly in the mid-to-high range. But from fifth grade onward, proficiency in both subjects drops sharply. By seventh grade, math proficiency falls to a low level, and English language arts proficiency declines markedly as well. Eighth grade science proficiency recovers to a moderate level, but seventh grade remains a weak point across subjects. The pattern suggests that transition to the upper grades is difficult for this cohort of students, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports or structural changes occur at that point.

The school sits within Miller Township Community Consolidated School District 210 and is the sole elementary school serving the district. Marseilles itself is a small, walkable town with a historic downtown along the Illinois River and a blue-collar workforce concentrated in education, health care, and manufacturing. The housing market is affordable: median home values in the zip code are below the state and national benchmarks, and monthly mortgage costs and rental rates are likewise lower than the national median. The town is experiencing slow population decline and controlled growth, with newer construction concentrated on the north side toward Interstate 80.

Academic performance across the school sits above the midpoint relative to other districts in LaSalle County when proficiency is measured as an overall index. However, the steep decline in performance in the middle grades is a genuine area of concern. Enrollment data shows no information about free or reduced-price lunch participation, students receiving special education services, or English learners, making it difficult to understand what proportion of the student body may require additional support.

The school offers a traditional regular public school program with no specialized designations. Testing participation appears to be at full rates, suggesting reliable data. For families considering this school, the main takeaway is that it performs adequately in the early elementary years and has a strong housing and cost-of-living environment in a real community with civic anchors and walkable downtown life. The substantial performance drop in grades five through eight is the critical question to explore with the school directly before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 714%

School 14% · District 14%

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

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

even with state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 19%

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

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Science

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 63%

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

This schoolMiller Twp CCSD 210, 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.