The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in Science. The lowest is 71% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Old Bonhomme Elementary
Old Bonhomme Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in the Ladue School District, a well-regarded suburban district within St. Louis County. The school is a regular public elementary school, and it is located in the city of St. Louis, an independent city that is the urban core of the broader metropolitan area. St. Louis has a diverse economy anchored by major employers like the Federal Reserve Bank, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and several research universities. Civic and cultural anchors such as Forest Park, the Saint Louis Zoo, and the Missouri Botanical Garden are part of the city’s fabric.
The school itself is small for a K-4 building. Its student body is racially and economically diverse. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The largest demographic group is white students, followed by Asian students, with smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and Hispanic students. The school serves a compact range of grades, which means students will need to transition to another elementary or intermediate school after fourth grade.
State testing data from the most recent school year shows that Old Bonhomme’s students performed well on the Missouri Assessment Program, or MAP, in both math and English language arts. The proficiency rate for third graders in math and in ELA was strong, and fourth graders posted similarly high rates in both subjects. Older science testing data, available from a prior year when the school still tested fifth graders, also showed a high proficiency rate. Because the school now ends at fourth grade, it does not participate in the state’s fifth-grade science assessment, so that earlier result is the most recent science data available.
The school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to districts in St. Louis County. This is a strong indicator of academic performance, particularly given that the comparison set includes the full range of districts in a populous county. A parent looking at these results will see a school where, on the whole, a large majority of students are meeting state learning standards in the early grades.
Because Old Bonhomme is an elementary school, it does not have a graduation rate or other high-school-level outcomes. Data on chronic absenteeism and discipline was not available in the source material. The school’s status as a Title I school is not reported in the data. The share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was also not available, so a parent who wants to understand those dimensions of the school’s support infrastructure would need to ask the school directly.
The district completed a major facilities renovation in 2024. This project, funded by a voter-approved bond referendum, included renovation of Old Bonhomme along with the district’s other three elementary schools and the middle school. The renovations are a concrete change that families will experience in the physical learning environment. The debt service levy tied to the bond is part of the local property tax picture.
Housing in the school’s zip code area carries a value above the national benchmark. Rents in the area are also above the national average, and the monthly cost of renting is substantially lower than the estimated monthly mortgage payment, which points to a significant price-to-income ratio. The St. Louis County housing market shows an active number of listings and a median days on market that suggests homes are moving at a moderate pace.
Old Bonhomme Elementary presents as an academically strong school for the primary grades within a district that has invested in its physical plants. The school’s size, grade span, and the transition it requires after fourth grade are structural features a family will want to consider alongside the academic profile. The available evidence points to a school that performs well on state assessments relative to its county peers.
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