Elementary schools in Belleville, Scott Air Force Base and O'Fallon were recently named among the top institutions in St. Clair County, according to a 2025 Best Elementary Schools ranking from Niche, a site offering data on schools and colleges.
Niche creates ratings based on reviews and data. Its sources include the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core Data, Civil Rights Data Collection and others. The website's methodology varies for public versus private schools due to differences in the data and information available, but both types of institutions are graded on academics, teachers and diversity.
The data considered for this year's ranking is from the 2021-22 school year, unless an institution did not have data available for that year, Niche spokesperson Zach Chatham wrote in an email to the News-Democrat. If a school did not have data available from 2021 to 2022, the most recent available data was used.
Here's how the top 10 elementary schools in St. Clair County stacked up, according to Niche. Both public and private schools are included. Some schools also appear in Niche's best middle schools ranking because they serve overlapping grades.
Smithton Elementary School has 556 students from pre-K to eighth grade, according to Niche. Math proficiency is at 45%, and reading proficiency is 55%.
The school has a 97% retention rate and a 7% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Smithton Elementary School officials were not immediately available for comment.
Freeburg Elementary School has 532 students from third to eighth grade, Niche reports, with a math proficiency rate of 39% and a 52% reading proficiency rate.
The school has a 90% retention rate and a 15% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Freeburg Elementary School officials were not immediately available for comment.
Marie Schaefer Elementary School, or Schaefer Elementary, has 642 students from pre-K to fifth grade, Niche reports. Math proficiency is at 45% and reading proficiency is at 39%.
The school has an 89% retention rate and a 12% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Officials with O'Fallon School District 90, which includes Hinchcliffe, Kampmeyer, Moye and Schaefer elementary schools, were not immediately available for comment.
Estelle Kampmeyer Elementary School, or Kampmeyer Elementary, has 478 students from pre-K to fifth grade, Niche reports. Math proficiency is at 47% and reading proficiency is 45%.
Delores Moye Elementary School, or Moye Elementary, has 595 students from pre-K to fifth grade, according to Niche. Math proficiency is at 41% and reading proficiency is at 49%.
Mascoutah Elementary School has 776 students from pre-K to fifth grade. Math proficiency is at 42% and reading proficiency is at 51%, Niche reports.
The school has an 89% retention rate and a 10% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Mascoutah Elementary School officials were not immediately available for comment.
J. Emmett Hinchcliffe Sr. Elementary School, or Hinchcliffe Elementary, has 472 students from pre-K to fifth grade, Niche reports. Math proficiency is at 62% and the reading proficiency rate is 45%.
Wingate Elementary School has 497 students from pre-K to fifth grade, Niche reports, with a math proficiency rate of 37% and a reading proficiency rate of 54%.
The institution has an 80% retention rate and a 9% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Officials with Wingate Elementary School were not immediately available for comment.
Scott Elementary School, which serves children of families who live on Scott Air Force Base, has 755 students from pre-K to fifth grade, according to Niche. Math proficiency is at 44% and reading proficiency is at 61%.
The school has a 91% retention rate and a 16% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Scott Elementary School officials were not immediately available for comment.
Governor French Academy has 110 students from pre-K through 12th grade, according to Niche. Because Governor French Academy is a private school, math and reading proficiency rates are not listed in Niche's ranking, and private schools are not included in the Illinois Report Card.
"We attribute our success to the academy's ability to take a highly individualized approach on education and our small class sizes. We're very proud of the profound academic accomplishments of our student body and our dedicated teaching staff," headmaster Kim Powers wrote in an email to the BND.