Prairie Central Elementary School

Summary:

Prairie Central Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Fairbury, Illinois, serving grades 2-4 with a total enrollment of 322 students. The school is part of the Prairie Central CUSD 8 district, which is ranked 466 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Prairie Central Elementary School's performance on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) tests is generally below the state and district averages. In the 2023-2024 school year, only 30% of all grades were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 41.2% statewide, and 19.7% were proficient or better in Math, compared to 28.4% statewide. The school's performance has been declining over the years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 307 out of 2,046 Illinois elementary schools in 2015-2016 to 1,163 out of 2,067 in 2023-2024. Subgroup performance is also a concern, with White students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds performing particularly poorly compared to their peers statewide. Additionally, the school has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, from 2.2% in 2019-2020 to 12.8% in 2023-2024, which is higher than the state average.

Interestingly, the nearby Prairie Central Primary East and Prairie Central Primary West schools, which serve younger grades, have generally higher performance on the IAR tests and lower chronic absenteeism rates compared to Prairie Central Elementary School. Another nearby school, Odell Grade School, has similar performance to Prairie Central Elementary School, while Lexington Elementary School stands out as a high-performing school with significantly higher proficiency rates in both ELA and Math.


Detail:

Public 2-4

 600 S 1st St
       Fairbury, IL  61739-1558


(815) 692-2623

District: Prairie Central CUSD 8

SchoolDigger Rank:
1163rd of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $11,918 Help


Students who attend Prairie Central Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Prairie Central Junior High School
    Prairie Central Upper Elementary
High:    Prairie Central High School

Student/teacher ratio:  12.9 Help
Number of students:  368

Racial breakdown:

White:
88.9%
Hispanic:
7.1%
Two or more races:
3.3%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  44% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Prairie Central Elementary School ranks worse than 56.3% of elementary schools in Illinois. (See more...)
Help
Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 39.53. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Prairie Central Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the Prairie Central CUSD 8 School District. Racial makeup is: White (88.9%), Hispanic (7.1%), two or more races (3.3%). (See more...)
Help
Compare Details 44% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
Help
Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Prairie Central Elementary School is 12.9. 1 elementary schools in the Prairie Central CUSD 8 School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Prairie Central Elementary School employs 28.4 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at Prairie Central Elementary School is $11,918, which is the lowest among 3 elementary schools in the Prairie Central CUSD 8 School District!
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Prairie Central Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Prairie Central Elementary School 1163rd of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Prairie Central Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Disabled students:
Male students:
White students:


Prairie Central CUSD 8:

SchoolDigger ranks Prairie Central CUSD 8 466th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Prairie Central Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2003 69.75 713th 2020 64.7%
2004 68.13 747th 2030 63.2%
2005 84.33 147th 2022 92.7%
2006 77.33 408th 2086 80.4%
2007 83.32 164th 2095 92.2%
2008 76.16 493rd 2092 76.4%
2009 73.85 609th 2120 71.3%
2010 71.77 673rd 2139 68.5%
2011 81.74 284th 2147 86.8%
2012 79.12 387th 2166 82.1%
2013 65.68 789th 2167 63.6%
2014 47.45 1160th 2093 44.6%
2015 48.19 947th 2052 53.8%
2016 83.17 307th 2046 85.0%
2017 65.11 649th 2044 68.2%
2018 64.41 660th 2037 67.6%
2019 61.06 754th 2086 63.9%
2021 55.76 739th 1948 62.1%
2022 49.42 941st 2082 54.8%
2023 45.57 1040th 2077 49.9%
2024 39.53 1163rd 2067 43.7%
See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 53.03 250th 763 67.2%
2019 38.44 664th 1194 44.4%
2021 48.08 279th 640 56.4%
2022 61.02 275th 1113 75.3%
2023 38.14 639th 1156 44.7%
2024 38.58 671st 1195 43.8%
See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 65.32 435th 1765 75.4%
2019 65.97 436th 1816 76.0%
2021 63.57 356th 1514 76.5%
2022 48.73 804th 1763 54.4%
2023 47.38 880th 1808 51.3%
2024 30.55 1296th 1793 27.7%
See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 59.78 716th 1964 63.5%
2019 58.42 772nd 2019 61.8%
2021 44.86 844th 1680 49.8%
2022 51.50 843rd 1970 57.2%
2023 51.67 851st 1957 56.5%
2024 34.99 1195th 1942 38.5%
See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 46.17 384th 907 57.7%
2024 50.38 336th 886 62.1%
See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 68.11 550th 1972 72.1%
2019 63.15 659th 2019 67.4%
2021 57.58 595th 1707 65.1%
2022 46.45 952nd 1977 51.8%
2023 39.85 1113th 1984 43.9%
2024 43.23 1014th 1959 48.2%
See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for White students at Prairie Central Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools IL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 50.80 711th 1463 51.4%
2019 44.11 846th 1462 42.1%
2021 40.02 778th 1308 40.5%
2022 31.64 1033rd 1425 27.5%
2023 28.31 1076th 1419 24.2%
2024 22.37 1152nd 1392 17.2%
See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Prairie Central Elementary School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Prairie Central Elementary School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1989 545 2 1 7 n/a n/a n/a 0 555
1990 572 2 1 10 n/a n/a n/a 0 585
1991 609 5 0 21 0 n/a n/a 0 635
1992 613 5 0 35 0 n/a n/a 0 653
1993 632 5 0 28 0 n/a n/a 0 665
1994 631 5 1 36 0 n/a n/a 0 673
1995 652 3 5 28 0 n/a n/a 0 688
1996 652 3 5 28 0 n/a n/a 0 688
1997 639 2 5 31 0 n/a n/a 0 677
1998 424 0 4 18 2 n/a n/a 0 448
1999 423 3 2 29 1 n/a n/a 0 458
2000 432 3 1 26 0 n/a n/a 0 462
2001 421 0 0 12 0 n/a n/a 0 433
2002 380 11 3 22 0 n/a n/a 0 416
2003 380 11 3 22 0 n/a n/a 0 416
2004 345 15 5 28 1 n/a n/a 0 394
2005 353 15 7 35 0 n/a n/a 0 410
2006 349 15 4 34 0 n/a n/a 0 402
2007 352 13 6 28 0 n/a n/a 0 399
2008 380 14 3 26 0 n/a n/a 0 423
2009 370 14 4 18 0 n/a n/a 4 410
2010 360 12 6 18 0 n/a n/a 4 400
2011 359 9 6 17 0 0 2 0 393
2012 378 8 6 12 0 0 5 0 409
2013 367 5 5 7 0 1 3 0 388
2014 361 8 3 14 1 4 13 0 404
2015 376 9 3 13 3 0 6 0 410
2016 346 8 4 13 2 0 13 0 386
2017 351 5 1 17 1 0 24 0 399
2018 333 6 3 16 1 0 22 0 381
2019 309 6 4 14 3 0 16 0 352
2020 308 4 6 21 1 0 7 0 347
2021 283 2 3 20 1 1 6 0 316
2022 313 0 1 29 1 0 11 0 355
2023 291 1 0 20 0 0 10 0 322
2024 327 3 0 26 0 0 12 0 368

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Prairie Central Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 555 30.5 18.1 n/a
1990 585 31.5 18.5 n/a
1991 635 32.1 19.7 n/a
1992 653 34.0 19.2 n/a
1993 665 33.5 19.9 n/a
1994 673 36.0 18.7 n/a
1995 688 37.0 18.6 n/a
1996 688 37.0 18.6 n/a
1997 677 38.5 17.6 n/a
1998 448 28.5 15.7 n/a
1999 458 29.0 15.8 n/a
2000 462 30.0 15.4 n/a
2001 433 29.0 14.9 n/a
2002 416 28.5 14.6 28.6
2003 416 28.5 14.6 28.6
2004 394 27.0 14.6 27.9
2005 410 26.0 15.8 26.8
2006 402 27.0 14.9 25.9
2007 399 23.0 17.3 28.6
2008 423 24.0 17.6 26.7
2009 410 29.0 14.1 27.8
2010 400 29.0 13.7 30.3
2011 393 26.0 15.1 31.3
2012 409 27.0 15.1 34
2013 388 n/a n/a 37.4
2014 404 23.0 17.5 42.6
2015 410 26.0 15.7 39
2016 386 25.0 15.4 34.2
2017 399 29.6 13.4 43.4
2018 381 30.2 12.6 47.5
2019 352 28.3 12.4 46
2020 347 28.3 12.2 40.6
2021 316 n/a n/a n/a
2022 355 30.1 11.7 40.6
2023 322 29.6 10.8 45.3
2024 368 28.4 12.9 44

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Prairie Central Elementary School

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Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 555 30.5 18.1 n/a
1990 585 31.5 18.5 n/a
1991 635 32.1 19.7 n/a
1992 653 34.0 19.2 n/a
1993 665 33.5 19.9 n/a
1994 673 36.0 18.7 n/a
1995 688 37.0 18.6 n/a
1996 688 37.0 18.6 n/a
1997 677 38.5 17.6 n/a
1998 448 28.5 15.7 n/a
1999 458 29.0 15.8 n/a
2000 462 30.0 15.4 n/a
2001 433 29.0 14.9 n/a
2002 416 28.5 14.6 28.6
2003 416 28.5 14.6 28.6
2004 394 27.0 14.6 27.9
2005 410 26.0 15.8 26.8
2006 402 27.0 14.9 25.9
2007 399 23.0 17.3 28.6
2008 423 24.0 17.6 26.7
2009 410 29.0 14.1 27.8
2010 400 29.0 13.7 30.3
2011 393 26.0 15.1 31.3
2012 409 27.0 15.1 34
2013 388 n/a n/a 37.4
2014 404 23.0 17.5 42.6
2015 410 26.0 15.7 39
2016 386 25.0 15.4 34.2
2017 399 29.6 13.4 43.4
2018 381 30.2 12.6 47.5
2019 352 28.3 12.4 46
2020 347 28.3 12.2 40.6
2021 316 n/a n/a n/a
2022 355 30.1 11.7 40.6
2023 322 29.6 10.8 45.3
2024 368 28.4 12.9 44

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Immunization Rates

Prairie Central Elementary School

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Compare
YearPolioMeaslesMumpsRubellaHepatitis BVaricellaDTPPneumococcal
201590.1%90.3%90.3%90.3%15.9%92.2%89.6%14.8%
201697.7%96.5%96.5%96.5%17.6%97.0%97.2%17.6%
201799.3%99.0%99.0%99.0%98.8%99.3%
201899.2%99.0%99.0%99.0%98.7%99.5%
202199.4%99.4%99.4%99.4%99.7%98.8%99.4%
202298.0%98.6%98.6%98.6%98.6%97.7%98.3%
202398.4%98.8%98.8%98.8%98.8%98.4%98.4%
202497.8%98.4%98.4%98.4%98.9%98.1%97.8%

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Prairie Central Elementary School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $237 (2.1%) $11,021 (97.9%) $11,258
2020 $470 (4.2%) $10,776 (95.8%) $11,246
2021 $898 (7.3%) $11,472 (92.7%) $12,371
2022 $898 (7.3%) $11,472 (92.7%) $12,371
2023 $859 (7.0%) $11,468 (93.0%) $12,327
2024 $848 (7.1%) $11,070 (92.9%) $11,918

Data source: Illinois Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Prairie Central Elementary School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 754th of 2086 Elementary schoolsRanks 1040th of 2077 Elementary schools
 13.9%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (Prairie Central Elementary School)42.722.1
 20.6%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Prairie Central CUSD 8)42.722.1
 20.6%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Illinois)36.428.8
 7.6%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Prairie Central Elementary School)42.726.8
 15.9%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Prairie Central CUSD 8)42.726.8
 15.9%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Illinois)40.633
 7.6%
4th Grade English Language Arts (Prairie Central Elementary School)50.932.6
 18.3%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Prairie Central CUSD 8)50.932.6
 18.3%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Illinois)36.735.4
 1.3%
4th Grade Mathematics (Prairie Central Elementary School)28.425.6
 2.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Prairie Central CUSD 8)28.425.6
 2.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Illinois)33.527.7
 5.8%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students352322
 8.5%
African American61
 83.3%
American Indian30
 100%
Asian40
 100%
Hispanic1420
 42.9%
Pacific Islander00
White309291
 5.8%
Two or More Races1610
 37.5%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients46%45.3%
 0.7%


Schools Near Prairie Central Elementary School









Frequently Asked Questions about Prairie Central Elementary School

Students at Prairie Central Elementary School are 89% White, 7% Hispanic, 3% Two or more races.

In the 2023-24 school year, 368 students attended Prairie Central Elementary School.

Prairie Central Elementary School ranks 1163rd of 2067 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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