The top reported proficiency rate is 54% in English language arts. The lowest is 42% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mt Carmel Grade School
Mt Carmel Grade School serves students in third through sixth grade in Mount Carmel, a small county-seat city in southern Illinois where the Wabash, Patoka, and White rivers converge on the Indiana border. The school enrolls a mid-sized population across its grade band, with a student body that is predominantly white and drawn from a community where most residents own their homes and many are retirees.
The school's test results across the 2024-25 school year show a mixed academic picture with notable variation by grade and subject. In English language arts, performance ranges widely: third grade proficiency stands at a moderate level, fourth grade is below that, but fifth grade jumps to a strong level, and sixth grade comes back to moderate. Mathematics proficiency is lower overall, with third grade the strongest across the school, fourth and fifth grades both below half proficiency, and sixth grade substantially below. Science testing is available only for fifth grade, where proficiency is below half. The data shows high participation rates across tested grades, suggesting reliable reporting. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to mathematics instruction and the apparent dip in performance at the fifth and especially sixth grades, which could reflect curriculum transitions or other factors worth understanding directly from the school.
Within the Wabash County districts comparison set, Mt Carmel Grade School's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it well above the median performance of districts in the county, positioning it among the county's stronger academic performers on this measure.
The school sits in Mount Carmel's residential neighborhoods, a low-density community built around a historic Market Street commercial corridor that serves as the civic heart. Downtown is anchored by the Wabash County Courthouse. Civic anchors include the Mt. Carmel Public Library, established over a century ago and still serving the community, municipal parks, access to the Wabash River, and nearby Beall Woods State Nature Reserve. The city has no fixed-route public transit and sits roughly 20 miles from the Interstate 64 corridor.
The housing market in this postal area is affordable, with home values well below the Illinois state benchmark. Mortgages on the median home would carry an estimated monthly payment substantially below what a typical household would spend regionally, making homeownership accessible for families at modest to moderate income levels. Rents, where available, reflect similar affordability. The broader economic context shows an unemployment rate slightly above national patterns and median household income roughly in line with national figures.
Mount Carmel and Wabash County are experiencing slow demographic decline rather than growth. The county's population has ticked downward over the past several years. Employment anchors in the city include Wabash General Hospital, a major regional employer and healthcare provider; Wabash Valley College, a community college with several hundred students; and manufacturers including MotoRad of America, which makes automotive thermal-systems components. A regional disruption arrived in late February 2026 when Champion Laboratories in nearby Albion closed suddenly, eliminating a substantial number of jobs in the wider Wabash Valley area and prompting coordinated response efforts through state officials and community colleges.
The school's role is to serve the elementary and early middle grades of this stable, modest-income community where housing is affordable and most families own their homes. Test results suggest some academic progress needed, particularly in math, which the school may be actively working to address. A prospective family here would be choosing a school in a shrinking but stable small-town setting with strong affordability and a school whose recent performance is above its county peer average but with some grades and subjects below where a parent might want them to be.
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