The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in English language arts. The lowest is 54% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Tremont Elem School
Tremont Elementary School is a small public school serving early grades in a rural Tazewell County village roughly fourteen miles southeast of Peoria. The school enrolls students in pre-K through fourth grade, with a student body of about three hundred students that is predominantly white, reflecting the makeup of the surrounding community.
The town of Tremont itself is a compact village with a mixed residential and agricultural character, centered around a small downtown. The local economy includes the headquarters of Precision Planting, an agricultural-technology company, alongside the school district as a significant employer. The village's population is essentially flat, though public investment in infrastructure like the Pearl Street improvement project suggests modest economic engagement. Housing in the area is moderately valued and remains affordable compared to state and national benchmarks; mortgage costs are manageable for families in the region.
In terms of academics, the school's performance shows a pattern worth examining carefully. On the most recent state assessment (Illinois Assessment of Readiness, or IAR), third-grade students showed solid performance in both math and English language arts, with roughly three-quarters of students meeting proficiency standards in each subject. Fourth-grade results tell a different story. While ELA performance held at a reasonable level in the mid-60s percentile range, fourth-grade math performance dropped significantly to roughly one-third of students meeting standards. This represents a notable decline from third grade and suggests a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether this reflects a transition year bump, a particular instructional approach, or patterns in that cohort. No state testing data was available for fifth grade or above, as the school only officially serves through fourth grade, with just one fifth-grader enrolled.
When placed against the other districts in Tazewell County, Tremont Elementary's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among its county peers, a modest strength given the competitive landscape.
The school sits within the Tremont Community Unit School District 702, which in March 2024 won voter approval for a tax increase on the education fund. This is noteworthy because the district, facing prior cuts to programs like art and elective courses, used the referendum to restore those offerings. With earlier high school bonds being retired, the district's combined tax rate is projected to edge down even as education funding rises, making the change sustainable for the community.
Tremont Elementary fits families seeking a small-town school with a predominantly homogeneous peer environment in a walkable village setting. The sharp performance drop in fourth-grade math is a legitimate question to explore with the school before enrollment, but the school's above-midpoint standing in the county and the district's recent investment in instructional breadth are countervailing signals worth considering together.
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