The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Math. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Mt Zion Elem School
Mt Zion Elem School serves second and third grade in Mount Zion, a small residential village just southeast of Decatur in Macon County. The school is a regular public elementary building, part of the Mt Zion CUSD 3 district.
The enrollment is small, typical for an early-grades school in a village of this size. The student body is predominantly white, with modest representation of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Data on free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learner status were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the economic and language profile of families served. The school's reported state testing data covers only third grade, which is the grade level where Illinois administers its state assessment. Second grade is not assessed at the state level, so there is no test result available for that cohort.
In third grade mathematics, the school's proficiency rate on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) was in the mid-range. In third grade English language arts, proficiency was somewhat lower, in the mid-to-lower range. Across the elementary schools in Macon County, Mt Zion Elem's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile of district performance, suggesting that despite modest absolute proficiency rates, the school performs above the median for its county peers. A parent may want to look further into recent trends and into what the school's approaches are to reading and mathematics instruction, particularly in the foundational grades.
The school is located at 725 West Main Street in Mount Zion, on the south side of the village, in the civic cluster near Fletcher Park and the Mount Zion Intermediate School. Mount Zion itself is a low-density suburban community on Decatur's edge, with subdivisions and single-family residential neighborhoods connected by the Mt. Zion Trail and local parks. The area is car-oriented; most daily errands and services require a short drive to Decatur, where major employers include Archer Daniels Midland, Mueller Water Products, and Memorial Health. The village is on a steady suburban-edge growth trajectory, with new residential development concentrated in custom-home subdivisions including Woodbine Park Prairie Estates, Buckhead Estates, and Craycroft at Southlake. Housing values in the zip code are moderate and have appreciated steadily.
Beyond the state test data, limited information was publicly available about specific programs, staffing ratios, or curriculum details at Mt Zion Elem. The district brief identified no major recent changes such as referendums, tax shifts, or curriculum overhauls affecting the school. A parent considering this school would benefit from a visit and direct conversation with school leadership about classroom practices, support structures for students who need extra help, and the overall learning environment.
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