The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Science. The lowest is 45% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Blades Elem.
Blades Elementary sits in the Mehlville R-IX School District and serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school. The school is located on Patterson Road in St. Louis, within St. Louis County. For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a mid-sized elementary where academic results show a pattern of rising performance as students move up the grades, set within a district that has not recently undergone major publicly reported changes in policy, curriculum, or leadership.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and two-or-more-races students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a meaningful share and indicates some economic diversity among families. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners was not available in the record, so a parent seeking information on special education or language support services would need to contact the school directly.
On state assessments, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint when compared with other districts in St. Louis County. That is a solid position, but the internal pattern deserves a close look. In math, third-grade proficiency lags behind the school’s own later grades, with just under half of students meeting the state standard. By fourth grade the rate improves modestly, and by fifth grade it reaches about half of students. English language arts follows a similar upward trajectory. Third-grade ELA proficiency is lower, climbing in fourth grade and reaching roughly half of students by fifth grade. Fifth-grade science results match the math proficiency rate for that grade. The overall impression is of a school where students make progress across the elementary years, but the early grade numbers, particularly in third grade, are soft spots. A parent moving a child into the school at third grade may want to ask how the school addresses early literacy and math foundations.
Because the school serves only kindergarten through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available.
St. Louis itself is an independent city with a diverse economy rooted in service, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and aviation. Major employers include the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, along with several research universities. The city’s cultural anchors include the Gateway Arch, Forest Park, the Saint Louis Zoo, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The city’s population has shifted over time, and its political boundaries were fixed when it separated from St. Louis County. Housing values in the school’s zip code place it at a level that is broadly in line with the state benchmark, and the county housing market shows a moderate pace of listings and sales.
The Mehlville district brief turned up no recent referendum, curriculum overhaul, or boundary change of lasting impact. That means the operating context for Blades Elementary has been stable in publicly visible terms, which may reassure families looking for continuity but provides little specific direction for those wondering about upcoming changes.
For a family weighing this school, the picture is of an elementary that pushes proficiency upward across the grades, landing above the middle of the county pack overall, with early grade performance the main question to investigate. The school sits in a region with notable civic and cultural resources, within a district that has not been in the news for disruption.
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