St. Libory Elementary Grade School

St. Libory children receive a good elementary school education for a reasonable cost to the area taxpayers. Students continue to attain favorable ISAT results while, according to the Average Financial Indicators, the district taxes at a lower rate than the average for comparable districts. Further, the district spends a higher percentage than the state average (47%) into actual Instruction (55.6%).

St Libory School is one of 92 Illinois school districts to be awarded a Bright Star Award. SchoolSearch is a Kansas City based firm that works with major companies in providing their relocating families school information. All of Illinois’ 892 districts were considered for the award and the award criteria were based on objective factors on which the districts could be judged fairly. The award criteria for school districts serving elementary students were based on those districts whose student’s academic performance ranked in the upper one-third of Illinois school districts, but whose expenditure per pupil ranked in the lower one-fourth of Illinois school districts. The teachers, parents, taxpayers, and Board of Education should be proud of this accomplishment.

Every student possible in grades 3, 5 and 8 participated in the Illinois Standards Assessment Test (ISAT) in the subjects of Reading, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Writing, while the state average ranges from 84-93%. St. Libory School placed a significantly higher percentage of students than the state average in the “meets” or “exceeds” categories for the areas 4^th Grade Science and Social Studies, 5^th Grade Writing, 7^th Grade Science, and 8^th Grade Reading and Writing. Likewise, the percentage of students significantly higher than the state average in the “does not meet” or “academic warning” categories was in the area of 8^th Grade Mathematics.

A new Internal Review Team has assessed the curriculum and instruction to identify areas for improvement. The current recommendations are; 1) Enhance the curriculum to support the Illinois Standards, 2) Update the yearly achievement tests with materials better reflecting student achievement on the Illinois Standards, 3) Better prepare student test taking and study skills, 4) Continue to incorporate updated technology into classroom activities, 5) Improve spelling results, and 6) Improve handwriting, composition and legibility. School Improvement Days will provide time for teachers to work on identified areas.