U.S. News & World Report Recognizes St. Louis Language Immersion School Among the 2024 Best Elementary Schools
Washington, D.C. – January 30, 2024 – St. Louis Language Immersion School (SLLIS) has been ranked No. 1 in Missouri among the 2024 Best Charter Elementary School rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings include more than 79,000 public elementary and middle schools across the country. Schools are ranked at the state and district level, with Best Charter Schools and Best Magnet Schools ranked as stand-alone categories.*
SLLIS was also ranked No. 2 in Missouri among charter middle schools.
“SLLIS’ #1 rank in elementary charter schools and #2 rank in charter middle schools in Missouri demonstrates SLLIS’ commitment to excellence and high growth for all its students,” says Dr. Meghan Hill, SLLIS Superintendent.
The methodology focuses on state assessments of students who were proficient or above proficient in mathematics and reading/language arts while accounting for student backgrounds, achievement in core subjects, and how well schools are educating their students. Student-teacher ratios are applied to break ties in the overall score.
The 2024 Best Elementary and Best Middle Schools rankings are based on publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education. For district-level rankings, at least two of the top performing schools must rank in the top 75% of the overall elementary or middle school rankings to qualify for district-level recognition.
“The 2024 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings offer a way for parents to get a snapshot of their child’s school and how well it is doing compared with other schools in their community," said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News. “In addition, U.S. News provides easily accessible data on student-teacher ratios, district spending, and the number of counselors a school makes available to its students.”
Parents, educators, and students can see how SLLIS compares to other institutions and how the rankings are calculated on USNews.com.
St. Louis Language Immersion School is a free, public, Pre-K through 8th grade charter school located in the Downtown West neighborhood of St. Louis City. SLLIS offers dual language immersion programs in French, Spanish, and Chinese. SLLIS serves a highly diverse student population and is just under 70% Free and Reduced Lunch. SLLIS staff hail from 14 different countries across 4 continents, and 59% of staff members identify with a race other than “White.” At SLLIS, students are on the path to academic biliteracy through bilingual, culturally responsive, transformational dual language programming.
In 2023, SLLIS students demonstrated exceptional growth as measured by the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP Test). Student growth in English Language Arts ranks #1 out of 547 districts in Missouri, and student growth in math is in the top 6%. SLLIS’ Student Group (which includes Black students, Hispanic students, students with IEPs, students who qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch, and students who are English Language Learners) ranks #2 in Missouri in English Language Arts growth and #15 in Missouri for growth in Math.
*SLLIS’ name in the reports appears as “St. Louis Lang Immersion Marine,” which was SLLIS’ official name with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MO DESE) until SLLIS consolidated its campuses at 1881 Pine. SLLIS has since corrected its name with MO DESE and has requested corrections with U.S. News.
About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News, Real Estate, Careers and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.