The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Math. The lowest is 49% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Dr. Henry Givens Jr. Elem.
Dr. Henry Givens Jr. Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in the Webster Groves School District, located in St. Louis, an independent city with a diversified economy anchored by major employers such as the Federal Reserve Bank, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and several research universities. The school is a regular public elementary school, and it sits within a larger district that recently underwent significant structural changes.
The Webster Groves School District approved a bond issue that funded the reconfiguration of grade levels across its buildings. As a result, Givens was converted into a neighborhood elementary school, and sixth grade was moved to the district’s middle school, creating a K-5, 6-8, 9-12 feeder pattern. The district reports that its tax rate remains among the lowest in St. Louis County.
Givens enrolls a student body that is diverse and includes a mix of racial and economic backgrounds. The school serves a student population that is predominantly white, with a substantial Black student enrollment, and smaller shares of students who are two or more races, Hispanic, or Asian. More than a quarter of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a common measure of economic need. The school does not have data on the share of students with individualized education plans or English learners, so a reader interested in special education support or language services would need to follow up with the district directly.
On state assessments, the school's results show a mixed picture that parents will want to examine by grade level. In mathematics, proficiency rates were reported for third, fourth, and fifth grades, with fifth grade showing a notably higher share of students meeting the state’s proficiency standard compared to the lower grades. In English language arts, the school’s third-grade proficiency rate was reported, but the fourth- and fifth-grade ELA results were suppressed, meaning the data could not be released, likely because a small number of students were tested or other privacy rules applied. Fifth-grade science results were also suppressed for the same reason. Because of these suppressions, a complete picture of performance across all tested subjects and grades is not available from the data at hand.
The school's overall proficiency index, which averages the available proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades, places it above the midpoint among districts in St. Louis County. This suggests that where results can be measured, Givens is performing stronger than many of its peers in the county, though the missing data points should give a parent pause when trying to gauge the school’s full academic standing.
Housing in the area that feeds into Givens reflects a market that is generally more expensive than the national benchmark for home values. Rents are somewhat above what the typical household in the region would spend, and the county’s housing market has seen a modest increase in active listings and a slight decline in median listing prices compared to the previous year. This combination may matter for families deciding whether to rent or buy in the attendance zone.
The school does not have publicly available data on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios. These are meaningful gaps for a parent trying to understand the day-to-day environment and student support systems. Without that information, a family considering Givens should ask the district or school directly about attendance patterns and how the school addresses behavioral issues and teacher retention.
For a family already living in the Webster Groves district or considering a move there, Givens offers a standard elementary experience within a district that has made deliberate changes to its grade configurations. The school has a diverse student body, and its available test data indicate areas of academic strength, particularly in upper-elementary math. The missing ELA and science results, combined with the absence of other operational data, mean that a fully informed decision would require additional inquiry with the school or district office.
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