The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Science. The lowest is 58% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Bellaire El Sch
Bellaire Elementary serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade in Carlisle, a county-seat borough home to Dickinson College, Penn State's law school, and the U.S. Army War College. The school sits in a residential area on Waggoner's Gap Road and enrolls a small to moderate number of students, about half of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
The student body is diverse. White students make up just over half the enrollment, with Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students together comprising the other half. The school draws from a borough with institutional anchors and a mixed economy of college jobs, military employment, and significant I-81 corridor distribution and logistics growth. The median household income in the area is solid, though a substantial portion of the school's families qualify for meal support, reflecting income variation within Carlisle's residential base.
In academic performance, Bellaire's results are mixed. On Pennsylvania's state assessments in math and English language arts for grades 3 through 5, proficiency rates sit in the middle range: just under three-fifths of tested students met or exceeded standards in both subjects in the 2024-25 school year. The school's science proficiency is considerably stronger, with about four-fifths of students meeting or exceeding standards in the 2023-24 assessment. On a proficiency index comparing this school to other schools across Cumberland County, Bellaire scores in the top quartile among county schools. A parent may want to ask the school directly whether the gap between math-and-ELA results and science results reflects instructional priorities, assessment timing, or other factors.
The school does not report data on students receiving special education services or those learning English as an additional language, so there is limited visibility into how those populations' needs are being met. Attendance and discipline data were not available.
Carlisle itself is a town in transition. Downtown is walkable and active, with a historic grid centered on the Cumberland County Courthouse, supporting a craft food-and-drink scene, galleries, and community events. At the same time, the borough is in the path of rapid logistics and warehousing expansion driven by I-81 corridor growth. A new WellSpan neighborhood hospital is opening in early 2026. The borough updated its comprehensive plan in 2023 and, as of summer 2025, has adopted zoning changes to allow light manufacturing uses like breweries downtown and to require bicycle infrastructure in new developments. Housing values in the area are moderate, with monthly mortgage and rent costs both manageable by regional standards. The surrounding area includes state lands, the LeTort Spring Run, and outdoor recreation within a short drive.
Bellaire is a regular public school serving the early grades and is part of the Carlisle Area School District, which covers both Carlisle and Mount Holly Springs. It is the school's grade span that limits state testing; kindergarten through second grade are not assessed by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, which is why proficiency results reflect grades 3 through 5 only.
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