James Avant Elementary School

James Avant Elementary School, a middle-of-the-pack primary school in Washington Pk, Illinois, part of East St Louis SD 189, caters to 342 students, covering grades K through 5.

East St Louis SD 189 comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 4,646 students; James Avant Elementary School is among them.

On demographics, James Avant Elementary School lists that the student body is overwhelmingly Black (83%). Other groups include 13% Hispanic, 2% White. The wider county runs roughly 28% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting James Avant Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. About 99% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, St. Clair County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, James Avant Elementary School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 14.1%; this one delivers 32.1%, a residual of +18.0 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for St. Clair County shows median household income runs about $73,854, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Across St. Clair County's 96 public schools (combined enrollment of about 40,879 students), James Avant Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Wyvetter Younge Sch of Excellence is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts James Avant Elementary School at 2nd of 8; the average score across the group is 22.3%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Over the past 7-year window. James Avant Elementary School's enrollment has shrank 31% since 2018, when it stood at 494 (now 342). Over the same period, the Black share edged down from 90% to 83%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 16.3:1 in 2018 to 9.8:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.