The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in English language arts. The lowest is 56% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Riverdale Elem School
Riverdale Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Port Byron, a small riverfront village on the Illinois bank of the Mississippi River in Rock Island County, part of the Quad Cities area. The school is a regular public school with an enrollment of roughly five hundred students, the vast majority of whom are white, and sits on a rural campus about a few miles east of the village's historic downtown rather than being woven into town streets.
The school's test results show mixed academic performance across math and English language arts. In third grade, just over seven-tenths of students met proficiency in math, and about two-thirds did so in English. By fourth grade, math proficiency dropped to around six in ten students, though English held at roughly two-thirds. In fifth grade, the pattern continued to soften: about half of students reached math proficiency, while English language arts rebounded to roughly three-quarters. Science proficiency in fifth grade sat at about halfway. The data here carries a note that state assessment cut scores changed in 2024-25, so trend comparison with prior years is not available. A parent may want to ask the school directly how recent performance stacks up against the school's own historical trajectory and whether the school has identified specific areas of focus for math support in the upper elementary grades, where proficiency rates decline notably.
Among schools in Rock Island County, Riverdale Elementary's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile across its tested subjects and grades. That ranking reflects the school's position relative to other county schools, though it does not indicate whether the school is above or below state or national benchmarks.
The village itself is a quiet, home-oriented place where most residents own their homes and commute elsewhere for work. The downtown clusters around the Mississippi riverfront, where locally-owned restaurants and the Great River Trail offer walkable recreation. The Riverdale school campus, by contrast, is separated from that downtown core on a rural campus shared with the middle and high schools. Housing values in the area are accessible compared to national benchmarks, and the unemployment rate is moderate. Port Byron has no fixed-route public transit; almost everyone drives.
A major change for the school came in the 2024-25 school year: Riverdale Elementary underwent its largest building project in decades, adding a new kindergarten wing and fully renovating fifteen classrooms in grades three through five, along with the library and small group study spaces. The district funded this work through federal grants and district reserves without asking voters to pass a new tax referendum. For families enrolling, the result is modern, updated facilities and additional kindergarten capacity.
The school draws from a homogeneous student population. State data on free-or-reduced-price lunch participation and English learner identification were not provided, so a parent may want to inquire directly about the school's socioeconomic diversity and support services for families experiencing economic hardship or language barriers. Special education and disability enrollment data were also not reported; again, asking the school about the availability and structure of special education services would be prudent for families with those needs.
Riverdale Elementary sits in a district that appears administratively stable and locally invested in facility quality but is itself a small entity. The school does not serve middle or high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No information about program breadth, staffing, or discipline practices was available. A parent considering this school would do well to visit, meet teachers and staff, and ask about curriculum approaches, class sizes, enrichment offerings, and how the school approaches reading and math instruction—especially given the observable slide in math proficiency from third to fifth grade.
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