Summary:
Empire Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Freeport, Illinois, serving grades PK-4 with a total enrollment of 325 students. The school is part of the Freeport School District 145, which is ranked 730 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Empire Elementary School consistently performs significantly below the state and district averages in standardized test scores for both English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 9% of students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 19.2% for the district and 41.2% for the state. The school also has a very high chronic absenteeism rate, reaching 41.1% in the 2022-2023 school year, which is significantly higher than the state average. Additionally, Empire Elementary School struggles to serve its diverse student population effectively, ranking in the bottom 10-20% of Illinois elementary schools for several subgroups, including male students, White students, and students with disabilities. The school has a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 59.08% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in the 2022-2023 school year.
While the nearby schools within the Freeport School District 145, such as Center Elementary School, Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School, and Blackhawk Elementary School, also struggle academically, they perform significantly better than Empire Elementary School. For example, Center Elementary School had 32.7% of students proficient or better in ELA, compared to only 9% at Empire. Despite the challenges faced by Empire Elementary School, the district spends a relatively high amount per student, with $17,100 spent per student in the 2022-2023 school year, suggesting that the issue may not be solely a lack of funding, but rather how the resources are being utilized and targeted to address the specific needs of the school.
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