The top reported proficiency rate is 90% in Science. The lowest is 80% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Steward Elementary School
Steward Elementary School serves kindergarten through eighth grade in a single-school district in a very small rural village in northeastern Illinois. The enrollment is small, with a student body reflective of the surrounding agricultural community: a majority white population with a meaningful minority Hispanic presence and a small share of students of two or more races. Free and reduced lunch eligibility data is not available, nor are counts of students with IEPs or those learning English as an additional language.
The only state test data available comes from the most recent school year and covers only the eighth grade. In both math and English language arts, eighth graders achieved proficiency at a solid rate with complete test participation. In science, eighth grade performance was somewhat stronger. Testing data for grades three through seven in math and language arts, as well as for fifth grade science, is not available; this gap likely reflects small grade cohorts below the state's reporting thresholds. Because of this incomplete picture, a parent should rely on direct conversation with the school about performance in the middle and early elementary grades.
The school sits on Main Street in Steward itself, functioning as a civic anchor within the village rather than on a separate campus. The village has a population of a few hundred people and occupies a very small land area. It is predominantly rural and residential, built around a grain elevator complex, a tavern, a post office, and local civic institutions. There is no high school in Steward; students feed to Rochelle Township High School, which lies several miles north. The housing market in the area shows recent appreciation relative to both state and national benchmarks, though home values remain modest. Most employment is located outside the immediate village, in nearby Rochelle or the DeKalb area, with the school itself representing one of the district's largest employers.
The village's population has declined gradually over recent years and remains very small. No major new housing development has been documented. The everyday character is small-town and agricultural: kids play in the village park while trains pass on the BNSF line, families gather at school and church events, tractors move through Main Street toward the grain elevator, and residents interact at the post office and local tavern.
Steward Elementary serves a genuine K-8 community where a single school encompasses the entire district's instructional mission. This structure means students remain in one building from entry through middle school before transitioning out of the district for high school. For families in this rural setting, the school is both an academic institution and a central gathering point for village life.
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