The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Math. The lowest is 51% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Vandalia Elementary School
Vandalia Elementary School is a small, comprehensive public elementary school in south-central Illinois serving early childhood through third grade. Its enrollment is split fairly evenly across its five grade bands, with a majority white student population and a small share of students from multiracial or Hispanic backgrounds. The school is one building within Vandalia CUSD 203, a district that has been building out career-pathway programming and holding its property-tax rate steady even as county valuations have risen.
Academic performance on the 2024-25 Illinois Assessment of Readiness shows proficiency results only for third grade, the highest tested grade at the school. In math, about half of third graders reached the proficient level. In English language arts, slightly fewer than half met proficiency. Participation in testing was very high. The school's third-grade proficiency index places it in the top quartile among schools in Fayette County, its peer comparison universe, though performance is still below the typical midpoint when examined individually.
A parent should understand that state testing data for grades before third grade is not available because those grades are not tested under Illinois state assessment protocols. This is expected and not a data gap unique to this school. The proficiency results for third grade tell a partial story: about half the cohort is meeting state standards in both subjects, while the other half is not. This is a soft spot worth exploring directly with school staff and with families already in the school about their sense of literacy and math support, instructional approach, and how the school works with students who are not yet proficient. The participation rate of nearly all tested students is a strength.
The enrollment is stable within each grade band, suggesting consistent community use. Demographically, the school is predominantly white in a community that reflects that composition. No data is available on the share of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, on special education enrollment, or on English learner population. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these figures and about the level of support available for students with different learning needs or language backgrounds.
Vandalia itself is a small county-seat city of roughly several thousand residents in the southern Illinois landscape. The community has historic roots, a preserved downtown centered on the State House, and everyday anchors including six park areas, a lake, and a walkable core. It draws a mix of families, retirees, and commuters to nearby employment centers like St. Louis and Effingham. The housing stock is older, predominantly small single-family homes without homeowners associations, and median home values are well below state and national benchmarks. The area is not growing rapidly; employment has been flat to modestly up, and the housing market is competitive but not booming.
Within the broader district context, Vandalia CUSD 203 has launched curriculum work on vertical alignment of English language arts and math standards across grade levels starting in 2025, which means students can expect more consistent expectations as they progress through the elementary grades and beyond. The district has also committed to multi-year professional development in special education support and is shifting its high school college-prep focus back toward the ACT. For families considering the school, the key takeaway is that this is a stable, quiet small-town elementary program in a community that values its public schools, serves an economically modest housing market, and is working on instructional consistency and depth. Test results are middling in a small-county context, and direct conversation with the school about reading and math support, class composition, and how individual learners are met will be essential to understanding fit.
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