Hartford Elem School, Hartford IL

Original Research by School Decision on Hartford Elem School

Hartford Elem School is a small early-elementary school serving preK through fifth grade in Hartford, Illinois, a low-density river village in Madison County about eighteen to twenty miles north of St. Louis. The school has a small enrollment and sits within Wood River-Hartford ESD 15.

The village itself has been in steady decline for decades. Hartford was historically anchored by major petroleum refineries and related industrial activity along the Mississippi River, but the dominant Premcor Hartford refinery closed beginning in the early 2000s, eliminating thousands of jobs. Population has contracted year over year since then. The community has also dealt with documented underground petroleum contamination from refinery operations, which has shaped property values and daily life. The built environment is a low-density residential grid with modest single-family homes; there is no traditional walkable downtown. Civic life centers on the public library, village hall, and the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site with its heritage campus near the river confluence. Transit connections exist to nearby towns and onward toward St. Louis via Madison County Transit.

The school's tested grades are third through fifth in math and English language arts, and fifth grade in science. Math proficiency is quite low across the grades tested. Third-grade math proficiency is low, fourth-grade math is very low, and fifth-grade math is well below proficiency thresholds, though participation in testing remains strong. English language arts shows a different pattern: third-grade ELA proficiency is low, fourth-grade is below the midpoint, but fifth-grade ELA proficiency reaches a more moderate level. Fifth-grade science proficiency is also below the midpoint. A parent may want to look into what support the school offers in mathematics specifically, where performance is notably weak, and what approaches have begun to show more traction in the upper grades. Testing data at the district level would also help clarify whether this pattern reflects school-level conditions or broader district challenges.

The school does not have a traditional middle school or upper-elementary wing; sixth, seventh, and eighth grades are either not enrolled or are served elsewhere, so state testing results for those grades do not appear. PreK enrollment is notably large relative to the elementary grades, suggesting the school serves younger children prominently. Racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and Hispanic students. Free and reduced lunch eligibility data was not available.

Housing in the surrounding Hartford area is quite affordable, well below state and national benchmarks, reflecting the community's economic contraction and industrial history. This low cost of housing may be relevant to families seeking affordable residential areas near the St. Louis metro region, though the village's ongoing population decline and legacy environmental concerns are also plainly part of the local picture.

The school serves a small, geographically isolated community facing significant headwinds from job loss and population loss. Its academic profile shows particular weakness in elementary mathematics, which is worth investigating directly with the school and district before enrollment.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 33% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 18% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 26% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 26% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 50% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 55% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 30% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

This schoolWood River-Hartford ESD 15, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.