The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in English language arts. The lowest is 54% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Olympia North Elem Sch
Olympia North Elementary School is a small, regular public elementary school in Danvers serving Pre-K through fifth grade. Enrollment sits at just under a few hundred students, drawn largely from the village and its surroundings. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and other students represented. The school participates in state standardized testing for grades three through five, and those results paint an uneven academic picture that a parent should understand clearly.
In English language arts, the school's performance is mixed by grade. Third-graders show solid proficiency, while fourth-graders struggle notably, with less than half meeting state standards. Fifth-graders rebound strongly, with a clear majority proficient. Math results follow a similar arc: third grade holds steady, fourth grade drops significantly to less than half proficient, and fifth grade climbs back to a solid majority. Science proficiency, tested only in fifth grade, sits at roughly the midpoint between proficiency and nonproficiency. These results suggest uneven mastery across grade levels. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether fourth-grade instruction, curriculum continuity, or specific support systems are contributing factors, and what the school is doing to address the dip.
The school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint when compared against the other districts in McLean County, suggesting that despite the grade-level volatility, the school performs better than half its county neighbors on aggregate testing. However, that comparison is against other elementary schools in the county, not a broader or national context.
Danvers itself is a small, car-dependent village about fifteen miles west of Bloomington-Normal, rooted in agricultural tradition and functioning now as a bedroom community to the Bloomington-Normal labor market and to the Rivian automotive plant a short drive away. Housing has appreciated modestly in recent years, with median values well below the national benchmark. The village centers on civic life at parks and the library rather than commercial density; schools and families rely on private vehicles. The housing stock is primarily single-family homes from the mid-twentieth century. For families seeking a small-town setting with ties to the farm belt and affordable suburban housing, Danvers offers that character. Families drawn to walkability or urban amenities would likely find it isolating.
The school operates within Olympia Community Unit School District 16, which recently secured two important long-term funding wins. In March 2024, voters approved a tax-rate ballot question restructured as a tax swap that raised caps on the Education and Operations and Maintenance funds without raising the overall tax rate, with new revenue arriving in summer 2025 and earmarked for facility repairs and additional programming. In April 2025, a countywide sales tax for school facilities passed, providing funding for school resource officers, mental health professionals, and facility upgrades, with a portion directed to property tax relief. Both moves signal a district making deliberate investments in infrastructure, safety, and student support for the medium to long term, which may ease concerns about what a move to the area would mean for school capacity and conditions.
For a family considering Olympia North, the school offers a small, locally rooted setting with decent aggregate performance against county peers but visible grade-level volatility in core academics. The teaching and support systems appear to shift in effectiveness as students move from third to fourth to fifth grade, which is worth investigating directly with staff. The housing market is affordable and stable, the community is close-knit and low-traffic, and the district leadership appears fiscally serious. The trade-off is that fourth grade—a critical year for math and literacy foundation—shows notably lower proficiency, a pattern parents should address head-on with the school before enrolling.
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