The top reported proficiency rate is 21% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on North Side Community School
North Side Community School is a charter elementary school in St. Louis, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school, not a magnet or alternative program, and it operates as a single-school district under the name North Side Community School. The school is small, drawing from a north St. Louis neighborhood where housing values are well below regional and national medians and rents are relatively modest, putting the area among the more affordable parts of the metropolitan region.
The student body is overwhelmingly Black, with a very small share of students who identify as two or more races. Nearly all students come from low-income households, as measured by free or reduced-price meal eligibility. The school is small enough that individual grade cohorts can be very small; some grades have only a handful of students. That size means families might find a tight-knit environment where teachers know every child, but the available data does not speak to class sizes, staffing ratios, or support services directly.
On state assessments, the school’s results are low. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above declines from third grade through fifth grade. In English language arts, proficiency data was suppressed for third and fourth grades, likely due to low counts, but fifth grade shows about one in five students proficient. In fifth-grade science, the proficiency rate is similar to the math rates. When compared with other school districts in St. Louis city, the school’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint of the group. A parent considering this school will want to ask how the school addresses these academic challenges and what interventions or instructional approaches it uses, since the state test results point to an area where the school is working from a low baseline.
Because North Side Community School serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism or discipline was available. The school’s charter status means it operates with some autonomy from the city’s traditional district structure, but the district-level information search found no recent major changes or initiatives publicly reported that would affect families.
St. Louis itself is an independent city with a diverse economy anchored by health care, research universities, federal agencies, and manufacturing. Families living in the city have access to a range of cultural institutions, parks, and employers. The school’s immediate neighborhood is residential, and the area’s very low home values reflect a market that has seen long-term population decline, though the city has pockets of reinvestment.
For a parent weighing this school, the picture is straightforward. The school serves a high-need population in a low-income part of the city. Academic outcomes are below average even for St. Louis city, and a family would want to understand what the school does to move those numbers. The small size could be a plus for families who want a more personal setting, but there is no published information on enrichment programs, after-school offerings, or special education supports to round out that picture. This is a school where the core challenge is academic proficiency, and the available evidence gives families the honest measure of that challenge without embellishment.
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