Is Towanda Elementary School a good school?

Towanda Elementary School ranks 352 nd of 2067 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Towanda Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 198 students attended Towanda Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Towanda Elementary School?

Students at Towanda Elementary School are 81% White, 9% Asian, 4% Two or more races, 4% Hispanic, 2% African American.

What schools do graduates of Towanda Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Towanda Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : Evans Junior High School High : Normal Community High School

Towanda Elementary School

Summary:

Towanda Elementary School is a public elementary school serving 189 students in grades K-5 in Towanda, Illinois, which is part of the McLean County Unified School District 5. This high-performing school consistently outperforms the district and state averages in academic achievement, particularly in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

Towanda Elementary School's strong performance is evident across multiple metrics. In the 2023-2024 school year, 49.5% of Towanda students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 42.2% for the district and 41.2% for the state. In Mathematics, Towanda's proficiency rate was 54.9%, significantly higher than the district's 29.3% and the state's 28.4%. The school also excels in science, with 71.9% of students proficient or better on the Illinois Science Assessment, outpacing the district and state averages. Additionally, Towanda Elementary has relatively low chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 1.8% to 9.3% over the past few years, which is lower than the district and state averages.

While Towanda Elementary School's performance is impressive, it is not the top-performing school in the district. Grove Elementary School consistently outperforms Towanda in both ELA and Mathematics proficiency across all grade levels. Additionally, Thomas Metcalf School, which is part of the ISU Laboratory Schools district, also outperforms Towanda Elementary in academic performance. Nonetheless, Towanda's strong academic outcomes, low chronic absenteeism, and relatively high per-student spending suggest that the school is providing a quality education to its students.

Detail:

Public K-5

304 S East St
Towanda, IL 61776-7661

(309) 728-2278

District: McLean County Unified School District 5

SchoolDigger Rank:
352^nd of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $12,463

Students who attend Towanda Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Evans Junior High School
High:	Normal Community High School

Student/teacher ratio: 12.5

Number of students: 198

Racial breakdown:

White:

81.3%

Asian:

8.6%

Two or more races:

4.0%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 14.1%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Towanda Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Towanda Elementary School ranks better than 83% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 2^nd among 16 ranked elementary schools in the McLean County Unified School District 5. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 80.4. (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 Racial makeup is: White (81.3%), Asian (8.6%), two or more races (4%). (See more...)

Compare Details 14.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Towanda Elementary School is 12.5, which is the 4^th best among 16 elementary schools in the McLean County Unified School District 5. (See more...)

Compare Towanda Elementary School employs 15.8 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Towanda Elementary School is $12,463. 14 elementary schools in the McLean County Unified School District 5 spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Towanda Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Towanda Elementary School 352^nd of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Towanda Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Female students:

Male students:

White students:

McLean County Unified School District 5:

SchoolDigger ranks McLean County Unified School District 5 420^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Towanda Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Towanda Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	73.10	611^th	2020	69.8%
2004	77.22	431^st	2030	78.8%
2005	78.70	352^nd	2022	82.6%
2006	79.12	343^rd	2086	83.6%
2007	82.23	204^th	2095	90.3%
2008	78.56	393^rd	2092	81.2%
2009	75.62	536^th	2120	74.7%
2010	75.61	538^th	2139	74.8%
2011	72.85	613^th	2147	71.4%
2012	69.55	745^th	2166	65.6%
2013	73.34	573^rd	2167	73.6%
2014	81.57	355^th	2093	83.0%
2015	60.54	707^th	2052	65.5%
2016	74.27	474^th	2046	76.8%
2017	86.28	234^th	2044	88.6%
2018	68.52	589^th	2037	71.1%
2019	89.79	162^nd	2086	92.2%
2021	69.93	505^th	1948	74.1%
2022	84.10	296^th	2082	85.8%
2023	89.24	197^th	2077	90.5%
2024	80.40	352^nd	2067	83.0%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Female students at Towanda Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	71.68	501^st	1964	74.5%
2019	88.64	172^nd	2019	91.5%
2021	79.79	266^th	1680	84.2%
2022	85.19	247^th	1970	87.5%
2023	92.56	113^th	1957	94.2%
2024	75.41	405^th	1942	79.1%

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

Rank History for Male students at Towanda Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	62.79	657^th	1972	66.7%
2019	88.70	163^rd	2019	91.9%
2021	55.51	629^th	1707	63.2%
2022	80.67	322^nd	1977	83.7%
2023	81.73	293^rd	1984	85.2%
2024	79.26	349^th	1959	82.2%

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

Rank History for White students at Towanda Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	46.61	782^nd	1463	46.5%
2019	76.25	271^st	1462	81.5%
2021	55.62	537^th	1308	58.9%
2022	68.82	380^th	1425	73.3%
2023	74.49	283^rd	1419	80.1%
2024	66.67	405^th	1392	70.9%

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

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Enrollment information for Towanda Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1992	181	2	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	183
1993	200	4	1	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	206
1994	221	2	2	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	225
1995	167	2	5	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	174
1996	167	2	5	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	174
1997	154	1	2	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	158
1998	181	2	1	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	184
1999	219	5	5	1	0	n/a	n/a	0	230
2000	162	4	1	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	167
2001	157	5	1	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	163
2002	119	1	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	120
2003	119	1	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	120
2004	105	0	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	105
2005	124	1	0	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	130
2006	135	4	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	1	140
2007	132	6	0	4	0	n/a	n/a	2	144
2008	140	2	3	4	0	n/a	n/a	6	155
2009	139	0	5	3	1	n/a	n/a	5	153
2010	164	2	5	1	0	n/a	n/a	4	176
2011	124	0	6	7	0	0	2	0	139
2012	127	2	7	7	0	0	5	0	148
2013	135	4	8	5	0	0	6	0	158
2014	141	2	18	5	0	0	7	0	173
2015	157	3	16	2	0	0	4	0	182
2016	158	4	18	2	0	0	3	0	185
2017	162	5	17	1	0	0	3	0	188
2018	163	6	15	3	0	0	2	0	189
2019	159	4	19	4	0	0	2	0	188
2020	171	5	17	4	0	0	2	0	199
2021	148	4	18	5	1	0	2	0	178
2022	155	3	18	4	1	0	6	0	187
2023	152	5	18	7	1	0	6	0	189
2024	161	4	17	7	1	0	8	0	198

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 Towanda Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1992	183	7.0	26.1	n/a
1993	206	8.5	24.2	n/a
1994	225	8.9	25.3	n/a
1995	174	8.9	19.6	n/a
1996	174	8.9	19.6	n/a
1997	158	8.9	17.8	n/a
1998	184	9.8	18.8	n/a
1999	230	12.9	17.8	n/a
2000	167	8.9	18.8	n/a
2001	163	8.4	19.4	n/a
2002	120	8.0	15.0	10.8
2003	120	8.0	15.0	10.8
2004	105	8.0	13.1	12.4
2005	130	6.8	19.1	6.2
2006	140	6.8	20.6	5.8
2007	144	9.0	16.0	7.7
2008	155	6.0	25.8	10.1
2009	153	6.5	23.5	8.1
2010	176	8.5	20.7	10.5
2011	139	7.5	18.5	10.1
2012	148	6.7	22.0	10.8
2013	158	10.1	15.5	14.6
2014	173	8.0	21.6	14.5
2015	182	10.0	18.2	15.4
2016	185	10.0	18.5	14.1
2017	188	11.8	15.9	17
2018	189	11.2	16.8	12.7
2019	188	10.9	17.1	7.4
2020	199	13.7	14.5	8.5
2021	178	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	187	14.4	12.9	11.8
2023	189	12.4	15.1	12.7
2024	198	15.8	12.5	14.1

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 Towanda Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1992	183	7.0	26.1	n/a
1993	206	8.5	24.2	n/a
1994	225	8.9	25.3	n/a
1995	174	8.9	19.6	n/a
1996	174	8.9	19.6	n/a
1997	158	8.9	17.8	n/a
1998	184	9.8	18.8	n/a
1999	230	12.9	17.8	n/a
2000	167	8.9	18.8	n/a
2001	163	8.4	19.4	n/a
2002	120	8.0	15.0	10.8
2003	120	8.0	15.0	10.8
2004	105	8.0	13.1	12.4
2005	130	6.8	19.1	6.2
2006	140	6.8	20.6	5.8
2007	144	9.0	16.0	7.7
2008	155	6.0	25.8	10.1
2009	153	6.5	23.5	8.1
2010	176	8.5	20.7	10.5
2011	139	7.5	18.5	10.1
2012	148	6.7	22.0	10.8
2013	158	10.1	15.5	14.6
2014	173	8.0	21.6	14.5
2015	182	10.0	18.2	15.4
2016	185	10.0	18.5	14.1
2017	188	11.8	15.9	17
2018	189	11.2	16.8	12.7
2019	188	10.9	17.1	7.4
2020	199	13.7	14.5	8.5
2021	178	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	187	14.4	12.9	11.8
2023	189	12.4	15.1	12.7
2024	198	15.8	12.5	14.1

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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