The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 45% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Marquette Elem School
Marquette Elementary School serves a small, family-oriented residential suburb of Peoria called Marquette Heights, where the school itself enrolls roughly two hundred students in pre-K through third grade. The school sits on Joliet Road, the main artery through town, and draws from a community that is stable, predominantly white, with a mixed blue- and white-collar workforce tied historically to nearby Caterpillar manufacturing and regional healthcare.
The school's footprint is compact. Enrollment breaks into four grade bands, with the youngest cohorts (pre-K and kindergarten) somewhat larger and upper elementary grades slightly smaller, reflecting the town's gentle population decline. The racial composition is overwhelmingly white, with very small shares of Hispanic and multi-racial students; no data on students with disabilities or English learners was reported, so the degree to which the school serves those populations remains unclear. Information on free- or reduced-price lunch eligibility was not available, leaving the economic status of the enrolled population unspecified.
On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), the school reports results only for third grade. Third-grade reading proficiency ran above half the cohort, while math proficiency came in below half. These represent a snapshot of the school's current performance; state assessment data for grades four and above did not appear in the reporting, likely because the school's grade band ends at third.
A structural fact about the district shapes enrollment at Marquette Elementary: North Pekin-Marquette Heights School District 102 operates only two schools now. Rogers Elementary closed in 2021 as a cost-saving measure, and that consolidation shifted the grade organization across the remaining buildings. Third graders now attend Marquette Elementary; fourth and fifth graders moved to Georgetowne Middle School. For families enrolling today, this two-school model is the permanent arrangement, not a temporary transition.
The school's performance sits above the median for districts in Tazewell County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, though the difference reflects limited test data rather than a full multi-year picture. Comparison to peer districts in the county is available but limited by the fact that only third-grade results report; fourth-grade and higher grades carry no results because they do not attend this building.
Housing in the surrounding zip code is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. Home values have grown modestly, and the rental market is tight, with monthly rent for a modest apartment running lower than the estimated mortgage payment on a median-listed home, making ownership the financially favored option for those with down payment capacity. The community is fully built out; no major new residential development is occurring.
The town itself is auto-oriented and residential. It has no walkable downtown district and serves primarily as a bedroom neighborhood. Most shopping and dining happen by car to the Levee District in East Peoria or to Pekin. Limited bus service runs along Route 29. The civic center clusters around Lincoln Road, where City Hall and the library sit, and the city hosts Independence Park and an annual Spook Hollow haunted attraction in fall.
Parents considering Marquette Elementary should understand that the school serves the youngest grades in a two-school district structure, with no visibility into how the school's third-grade cohorts perform after the transition to Georgetowne Middle. The reported test results are a thin sample, and longer-term outcome data from the school would help parents assess the academic pathway.
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