Is Howard B Thomas Grade School a good school?

Howard B Thomas Grade School ranks 514 th of 2067 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Howard B Thomas Grade School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 644 students attended Howard B Thomas Grade School.

What is the racial makeup of Howard B Thomas Grade School?

Students at Howard B Thomas Grade School are 50% White, 22% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 4% Two or more races, 2% African American.

What schools do graduates of Howard B Thomas Grade School attend?

Students who attend Howard B Thomas Grade School usually go on to attend: Middle : Central Middle School Middle : Prairie Knolls Middle School High : Central High School

Howard B Thomas Grade School

Summary:

Howard B Thomas Grade School is an elementary school in Burlington, Illinois, serving students from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade as part of the Central CUSD 301 district. The school has shown strong academic performance, with students excelling in science and among Hispanic and English Language Learner (ELL) populations.

While Howard B Thomas Grade School outperforms the state average in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, it lags behind the district average. The school has seen a concerning increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 3.2% to 10.7% in recent years. Interestingly, nearby schools like Ferson Creek School and Corron Elementary School, which are part of the St. Charles CUSD 303 district, have significantly outperformed Howard B Thomas Grade School across all academic measures.

Despite these challenges, Howard B Thomas Grade School serves a relatively affluent student population, with only 21.39% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch. The school has maintained a low student-teacher ratio, which may contribute to its academic performance. As parents consider educational options for their children, it's important to weigh the strengths and areas for improvement at Howard B Thomas Grade School, as well as how it compares to other high-performing schools in the region.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

44W575 Plato Rd
Burlington, IL 60109-0395

(847) 464-6008

District: Central CUSD 301

SchoolDigger Rank:
514^th of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $14,537

Students who attend Howard B Thomas Grade School usually attend:

Middle:	Central Middle School
	Prairie Knolls Middle School
High:	Central High School

Student/teacher ratio: 16.5

Number of students: 644

Racial breakdown:

White:

50.5%

Hispanic:

22.2%

Asian:

20.0%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 22.4%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Howard B Thomas Grade School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Howard B Thomas Grade School ranks better than 75.1% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks last among 4 ranked elementary schools in the Central CUSD 301 School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 72.44. (See more...)

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

Compare Details Student population at Howard B Thomas Grade School is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (50.5%), Hispanic (22.2%), Asian (20%). (See more...)

Compare Details 22.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Central CUSD 301 School District. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Howard B Thomas Grade School is 16.5, which is the lowest among 4 elementary schools in the Central CUSD 301 School District! (See more...)

Compare Howard B Thomas Grade School employs 39 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Howard B Thomas Grade School is $14,537, which is the highest among 4 elementary schools in the Central CUSD 301 School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Howard B Thomas Grade School:

SchoolDigger ranks Howard B Thomas Grade School 514^th of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Howard B Thomas Grade School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Central CUSD 301:

SchoolDigger ranks Central CUSD 301 153^rd of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Howard B Thomas Grade School

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Rank History for all students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	57.49	1054^th	2020	47.8%
2004	64.60	855^th	2030	57.9%
2005	57.16	1065^th	2022	47.3%
2006	63.29	946^th	2086	54.7%
2007	63.06	938^th	2095	55.2%
2008	71.54	668^th	2092	68.1%
2009	75.05	560^th	2120	73.6%
2010	75.65	533^rd	2139	75.1%
2011	73.37	599^th	2147	72.1%
2012	81.67	290^th	2166	86.6%
2013	77.08	468^th	2167	78.4%
2014	77.38	460^th	2093	78.0%
2015	56.65	768^th	2052	62.6%
2016	65.10	644^th	2046	68.5%
2017	70.28	559^th	2044	72.7%
2018	61.56	727^th	2037	64.3%
2019	69.74	565^th	2086	72.9%
2021	57.61	702^nd	1948	64.0%
2022	68.49	593^rd	2082	71.5%
2023	65.26	643^rd	2077	69.0%
2024	72.44	514^th	2067	75.1%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	65.03	141^st	718	80.4%
2019	84.08	36^th	743	95.2%
2021	32.41	409^th	537	23.8%
2022	49.43	299^th	768	61.1%
2023	67.89	135^th	788	82.9%
2024	61.62	181^st	826	78.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	38.42	405^th	763	46.9%
2019	37.35	682^nd	1194	42.9%
2021	28.07	470^th	640	26.6%
2022	59.06	294^th	1113	73.6%
2023	68.08	257^th	1156	77.8%
2024	72.11	221^st	1195	81.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	69.48	341^st	1765	80.7%
2019	66.24	428^th	1816	76.4%
2021	70.53	249^th	1514	83.6%
2022	67.35	372^nd	1763	78.9%
2023	62.96	496^th	1808	72.6%
2024	81.13	169^th	1793	90.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	60.11	711^th	1964	63.8%
2019	68.65	561^st	2019	72.2%
2021	58.04	611^th	1680	63.6%
2022	75.67	420^th	1970	78.7%
2023	67.52	550^th	1957	71.9%
2024	62.79	624^th	1942	67.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	60.94	241^st	907	73.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	62.81	656^th	1972	66.7%
2019	69.92	533^rd	2019	73.6%
2021	50.48	729^th	1707	57.3%
2022	57.24	744^th	1977	62.4%
2023	58.51	711^th	1984	64.2%
2024	78.39	364^th	1959	81.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	58.56	108^th	243	55.6%
2021	29.50	106^th	134	20.9%
2022	35.93	166^th	226	26.5%
2023	32.44	175^th	237	26.2%
2024	58.31	100^th	219	54.3%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	45.68	481^st	938	48.7%
2019	43.59	521^st	955	45.4%
2021	78.96	68^th	742	90.8%
2022	75.29	147^th	954	84.6%
2023	61.66	269^th	970	72.3%
2024	59.34	286^th	959	70.2%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Howard B Thomas Grade School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	50.24	718^th	1463	50.9%
2019	48.85	758^th	1462	48.2%
2021	30.42	971^st	1308	25.8%
2022	45.52	774^th	1425	45.7%
2023	43.16	815^th	1419	42.6%
2024	53.70	630^th	1392	54.7%

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.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)

100%

Reviews:
No reviews have been submitted!

Enrollment information for Howard B Thomas Grade School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	131	1	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	133
1990	125	2	n/a	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	128
1991	126	0	1	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	129
1992	140	3	1	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	144
1993	139	2	0	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	142
1994	143	0	0	2	0	n/a	n/a	0	145
1995	131	2	2	4	1	n/a	n/a	0	140
1996	131	2	2	4	1	n/a	n/a	0	140
1997	486	7	9	8	1	n/a	n/a	0	511
1998	481	9	8	9	0	n/a	n/a	0	507
1999	489	9	9	9	2	n/a	n/a	0	518
2000	500	10	7	16	3	n/a	n/a	0	536
2001	304	5	5	15	3	n/a	n/a	0	332
2002	306	4	5	14	3	n/a	n/a	0	332
2003	306	4	5	14	3	n/a	n/a	0	332
2004	285	9	6	12	2	n/a	n/a	0	314
2005	285	4	1	23	1	n/a	n/a	0	314
2006	386	8	8	42	0	n/a	n/a	0	444
2007	406	16	13	41	0	n/a	n/a	0	476
2008	351	9	13	35	0	n/a	n/a	3	411
2009	300	8	12	33	0	n/a	n/a	2	355
2010	296	12	14	68	0	n/a	n/a	2	392
2011	270	7	14	55	1	0	1	0	348
2012	240	4	5	49	0	0	5	0	303
2013	240	4	11	61	0	0	3	0	319
2014	238	6	15	62	0	0	6	0	327
2015	365	5	49	89	0	0	10	0	518
2016	361	4	59	104	1	0	15	0	544
2017	379	7	73	99	2	0	24	0	584
2018	401	10	80	103	2	0	27	0	623
2019	399	7	78	90	2	1	23	0	600
2020	402	12	94	112	3	0	23	0	646
2021	344	11	98	115	2	0	21	0	591
2022	384	15	112	151	3	0	24	0	689
2023	327	13	104	133	3	0	23	0	603
2024	325	16	129	143	3	0	28	0	644

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 Howard B Thomas Grade School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	133	7.1	18.7	n/a
1990	128	8.2	15.6	n/a
1991	129	8.2	15.7	n/a
1992	144	8.6	16.7	n/a
1993	142	7.2	19.7	n/a
1994	145	7.6	19.1	n/a
1995	140	9.8	14.3	n/a
1996	140	9.8	14.3	n/a
1997	511	25.2	20.3	n/a
1998	507	26.5	19.1	n/a
1999	518	28.2	18.4	n/a
2000	536	28.4	18.9	n/a
2001	332	22.0	15.1	n/a
2002	332	22.5	14.8	1.2
2003	332	22.5	14.8	1.2
2004	314	20.6	15.2	3.5
2005	314	20.1	15.6	2.9
2006	444	26.0	17.1	5
2007	476	27.0	17.6	4.8
2008	411	24.0	17.1	6.1
2009	355	30.7	11.6	10.8
2010	392	28.8	13.5	15.9
2011	348	25.0	13.9	14.1
2012	303	21.4	14.1	18.5
2013	319	41.2	7.7	17.6
2014	327	29.5	11.0	15.3
2015	518	38.0	13.6	22.4
2016	544	37.0	14.7	12.7
2017	584	35.8	16.3	14
2018	623	37.5	16.6	10.3
2019	600	35.9	16.6	11.5
2020	646	40.6	15.9	11.8
2021	591	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	689	44.0	15.6	17.3
2023	603	37.0	16.2	21.4
2024	644	39.0	16.5	22.4

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 Howard B Thomas Grade School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	133	7.1	18.7	n/a
1990	128	8.2	15.6	n/a
1991	129	8.2	15.7	n/a
1992	144	8.6	16.7	n/a
1993	142	7.2	19.7	n/a
1994	145	7.6	19.1	n/a
1995	140	9.8	14.3	n/a
1996	140	9.8	14.3	n/a
1997	511	25.2	20.3	n/a
1998	507	26.5	19.1	n/a
1999	518	28.2	18.4	n/a
2000	536	28.4	18.9	n/a
2001	332	22.0	15.1	n/a
2002	332	22.5	14.8	1.2
2003	332	22.5	14.8	1.2
2004	314	20.6	15.2	3.5
2005	314	20.1	15.6	2.9
2006	444	26.0	17.1	5
2007	476	27.0	17.6	4.8
2008	411	24.0	17.1	6.1
2009	355	30.7	11.6	10.8
2010	392	28.8	13.5	15.9
2011	348	25.0	13.9	14.1
2012	303	21.4	14.1	18.5
2013	319	41.2	7.7	17.6
2014	327	29.5	11.0	15.3
2015	518	38.0	13.6	22.4
2016	544	37.0	14.7	12.7
2017	584	35.8	16.3	14
2018	623	37.5	16.6	10.3
2019	600	35.9	16.6	11.5
2020	646	40.6	15.9	11.8
2021	591	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	689	44.0	15.6	17.3
2023	603	37.0	16.2	21.4
2024	644	39.0	16.5	22.4

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.

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