The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 18% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Whiteside Middle School
Whiteside Middle School serves grades five through eight in Belleville, a St. Clair County seat and southeastern St. Louis suburb with a mixed-use downtown anchored by Main Street and the Public Square, surrounded by residential neighborhoods and outer commercial corridors. The school sits in a community with significant military and federal presence due to proximity to Scott Air Force Base, and a diversified economy centered on healthcare, education, and government work. Belleville's housing market has shown modest movement, with home values and rental rates ticking upward slightly and more properties actively listed and pending sale than a year prior.
The school's enrollment is small, just over five hundred students across its four grade bands. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of white students and smaller shares of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price lunch rates and counts were not available, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the socioeconomic composition. Data on students with individualized education plans or English learners were also not reported.
Academic performance on Illinois state assessments shows a consistent soft spot in math across all tested grades. In grades five and six, the proficiency rates in math are quite low. Math improves modestly in grades seven and eight but remains well below half. English language arts shows a different and somewhat stronger pattern. Grade five proficiency in ELA is moderate, grade six jumps to above half, grade seven dips back to about a third, and grade eight recovers to above two-fifths. Science results are available only for grades five and eight; grade five science proficiency is low, and grade eight science is somewhat higher though still below a third. Illinois changed proficiency cut scores for this school year, which affects direct year-to-year comparison; the school's data are from 2024-25, and no prior-year data are shown here for trend.
Overall, Whiteside's proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in St. Clair County. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to math instruction and ask what supports are in place for students who are below proficiency. The stronger ELA results suggest the school has some instructional strength in that area, and that difference is worth understanding. Graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, and attendance data were not provided; the school's grade band does not include typical high school completion, so graduation rate does not apply.
The parent district, Whiteside SD 115, recently won voter approval for a bond-funded addition to Whiteside Elementary that will consolidate early childhood and pre-K programs from aging mobile classrooms into the main building, with new secure entrances, accessibility improvements, and additional classroom and therapy space. Groundbreaking occurred in 2025. This infrastructure investment signals the district's commitment to the elementary level and will carry a property-tax impact for families in the district.
Belleville itself is a compact, historic city with an active downtown and a predominantly residential core, though much of daily life outside the historic district is car-dependent. The city offers MetroLink light rail access to St. Louis, a shared-use bicycle trail, and civic anchors including the Belleville Public Library, the Lincoln Theatre, and the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds. Development pressure has concentrated on the east side toward Scott Air Force Base, where military personnel and civilian employees drive demand for new residential and commercial space. The overall housing supply in the county has expanded moderately, with more listings on market and somewhat longer sale timelines than a year ago, though median prices remain modest relative to state and national benchmarks.
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