The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Westview Middle School
Westview Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Riverview Gardens School District, located in north St. Louis. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it sits within St. Louis County. The student body is drawn almost entirely from the surrounding neighborhood, and the school’s enrollment is modest for a middle school of three grades. Virtually every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high poverty level of the community the school serves. The student population is predominantly Black, with a small share of Hispanic students identified in the data; other racial groups were not reported as present in the enrollment counts.
The academic picture at Westview is one of serious challenge. On the state’s Missouri Assessment Program, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced was in the low single digits and low teens across subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, proficiency rates were especially low, with the strongest result still under ten percent. In English language arts, the rates were marginally higher, rising above fifteen percent in two of the three grades. Science, tested only in eighth grade, showed a similar pattern. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in St. Louis County. A parent considering this school should understand that the vast majority of students are not meeting the state’s academic benchmarks and that the school is operating in a context of concentrated disadvantage. There is no graduation rate to report because the school does not serve high school grades; chronic absenteeism data and discipline records were also not available in the source material, so those dimensions of school environment remain unexamined here.
The community context reinforces the economic stress evident in the school’s demographic data. The housing market in the immediate zip code area shows home values that are well below the national median, though rents have been rising. St. Louis itself is a dense, older city with a diverse economy anchored by health care, higher education, and federal institutions, but its city proper has experienced sustained population decline over recent decades. The city’s grid of neighborhoods varies widely in walkability, and this part of north St. Louis is more auto-dependent than the central districts. Housing in the area is among the most affordable in the metro, which may appeal to families seeking lower costs of living but also signals the area’s limited economic dynamism.
The Riverview Gardens School District, which operates Westview, has its own institutional challenges. Publicly reported history indicates that the district was unaccredited for a period and received provisional accreditation in 2020. This status is meaningful for families because Missouri law requires unaccredited districts to pay tuition for students who transfer to nearby accredited districts, a policy that can affect enrollment stability and local property values. A parent looking into Westview may want to ask the school or district directly about the current accreditation standing, any improvement plans, and what supports are in place for students who are behind grade level.
Westview Middle School is a high-poverty school in a district that has been working to regain full accreditation. Its test results are very low, and it serves a student population that faces substantial economic barriers. For a family that prioritizes academic outcomes as measured by standardized tests, this is not a strong performer relative to other options in St. Louis County. For a family already living in the attendance zone or committed to the neighborhood, the school’s size and local mission are straightforward, but the academic gap that exists here is large. Without data on programs, course access, or staffing ratios, a fuller picture of what the school offers beyond test scores is not available from the sources used here. A parent should visit, ask about intervention strategies, extracurriculars, and how the school supports students who are not yet proficient, because the numbers suggest that nearly every child will need that support.
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