Selmaville Elem School, Salem IL

Original Research by School Decision on Selmaville Elem School

Selmaville Elementary School serves pre-K through grade 8 in Salem, a small city in south-central Illinois and the county seat of Marion County. The school sits on the rural edge of town, about a half-hour drive from larger regional centers, and enrolls a small group of students reflective of the surrounding community: almost entirely white, with a handful of students from other backgrounds, and no reported data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility or special education enrollment.

The school's academic picture is uneven. In English language arts, performance clusters at the lower end in the elementary grades, then strengthens substantially in the middle grades. Third graders show lower proficiency, fourth graders show modest proficiency, but fifth graders reach much higher performance, and sixth and seventh graders maintain that stronger level before eighth graders remain in the mid-range. The trajectory suggests that younger students struggle more with foundational skills, while older students develop stronger reading and writing competence as they progress through the school.

Mathematics tells a sharper story. Proficiency plummets across grades 4 through 8, with only grade 3 showing reasonable attainment. By grades 5 and 6, proficiency drops to very low levels. This pattern is particularly concerning in the middle grades, where mastery of foundational mathematics skills is essential for high school readiness. Science proficiency, tested only at grades 5 and 8, also runs low.

Comparing this school to others in Marion County, Selmaville's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint. A parent may want to discuss with the school what accounts for the mathematics weakness and what support or intervention is in place for students in grades 4 through 8, especially given that many will transition to high school in the coming years.

The school itself is small. Enrollment is stable and spans all grades from pre-K to 8, with the largest grade being eighth. No information about special education, English learner, or counseling services was available, so a parent may want to ask directly what supports exist for students with learning differences or language needs.

Salem is a stable small city, home to manufacturers and healthcare employers, with modest housing costs and active civic life centered on the courthouse downtown and Bryan Memorial Park. The community has recently adopted a ten-year growth plan targeting industrial and residential development. For families seeking a small-town K-8 environment, Selmaville is the only school in its district and sits within Salem's residential fabric. The school's strength in upper-elementary and middle-grades English is a real asset; its pronounced mathematics weakness at grades 4 and above is the key challenge any family considering the school should understand and investigate directly with the administration.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 20 pts below state median

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 8%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 64%

School 4% · District 4%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 4%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 27 pts below state median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 8%

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

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

This schoolSelmaville CCSD 10, 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.