Is Ellis Elementary School a good school?

Ellis Elementary School ranks in the bottom 1.6% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Ellis Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 460 students attended Ellis Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Ellis Elementary School?

Students at Ellis Elementary School are 67% African American, 15% Hispanic, 9% White, 9% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Ellis Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Ellis Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : Kennedy Middle School Middle : Thurgood Marshall School High : Auburn High School

Ellis Elementary School

Summary:

Ellis Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Rockford, Illinois, serving grades K-5 with a total enrollment of 401 students. The school is part of the Rockford School District 205, which is ranked 737 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger. Ellis Elementary has consistently ranked among the lowest-performing elementary schools in the state, with a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger for the past several years.

Ellis Elementary has faced significant challenges, including extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 31% in 2019-2020 to 75.7% in 2021-2022, which is much higher than the state and district averages. Academically, the school's performance, as measured by proficiency rates on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and Illinois Science Assessment (ISA), is significantly below the state and district averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 2023-2024, only 4.7% of students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 23% for the district and 41.2% for the state. The school's performance is particularly low for certain student subgroups, such as African American students, Hispanic students, students with disabilities, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

When comparing Ellis Elementary to other nearby schools in the Rockford School District 205, such as Haskell Elementary, it becomes clear that Ellis is an outlier in terms of academic performance and other key metrics. Haskell Elementary, located just over a mile away, has significantly higher proficiency rates in both ELA and Math, as well as a much lower chronic absenteeism rate. The consistently low performance of Ellis Elementary, as well as several other schools in the Rockford School District 205, raises concerns about the overall quality of education in the district, and the district's low ranking and 0-star rating indicate a need for comprehensive improvement efforts to address the systemic challenges facing its schools.

Detail:

Public K-5

222 S Central Ave
Rockford, IL 61102-2011

(815) 966-3909

District: Rockford School District 205

SchoolDigger Rank:
2033^rd of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $21,093

Students who attend Ellis Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Kennedy Middle School
	Thurgood Marshall School
High:	Auburn High School

Student/teacher ratio: 16.4

Number of students: 460

Racial breakdown:

African American:

67.0%

Hispanic:

14.6%

White:

9.1%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 92.4%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Ellis Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Ellis Elementary School ranks worse than 98.4% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 25^th among 27 ranked elementary schools in the Rockford School District 205. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 10.08. (See more...)

Compare Details Ellis Elementary School is not ranked due for the most recent year due to insufficient test score data. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2012 the calculated Average Standard Score was 31.01. (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: African American (67%), Hispanic (14.6%), two or more races (9.1%). (See more...)

Compare Details 92.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Ellis Elementary School is 16.4, which is the 9^th best among 27 elementary schools in the Rockford School District 205. (See more...)

Compare Ellis Elementary School employs 28 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Ellis Elementary School is $21,093, which is the 3^rd highest among 27 elementary schools in the Rockford School District 205.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Ellis Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Ellis Elementary School 2033^rd of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Ellis 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:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Rockford School District 205:

SchoolDigger ranks Rockford School District 205 737^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Ellis Elementary School

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Rank History for all elementary school students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	7.78	1823^rd	2020	9.8%
2004	6.26	1880^th	2030	7.4%
2005	2.81	1927^th	2022	4.7%
2006	8.63	1921^st	2086	7.9%
2007	15.13	1867^th	2095	10.9%
2008	10.08	1915^th	2092	8.5%
2009	9.79	1950^th	2120	8.0%
2010	7.48	2014^th	2139	5.8%
2011	14.27	1923^rd	2147	10.4%
2012	11.76	2004^th	2166	7.5%
2013	1.69	2162^nd	2167	0.2%
2014	1.74	2090^th	2093	0.1%
2015	8.95	2021^st	2052	1.5%
2016	9.22	1990^th	2046	2.7%
2017	7.44	2022^nd	2044	1.1%
2018	7.77	2020^th	2037	0.8%
2019	5.67	2086^th	2086	0.0%
2021	12.52	1881^st	1948	3.4%
2022	9.89	2073^rd	2082	0.4%
2023	9.57	2055^th	2077	1.1%
2024	10.08	2033^rd	2067	1.6%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for elementary school Special Education students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	23.23	660^th	763	13.5%
2019	17.76	1185^th	1194	0.8%
2021	19.88	619^th	640	3.3%
2022	20.91	1071^st	1113	3.8%
2023	18.11	1101^st	1156	4.8%
2024	15.70	1161^st	1195	2.8%

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

Rank History for elementary school Low Socio Economic Status students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.85	1736^th	1765	1.6%
2019	8.23	1815^th	1816	0.1%
2021	16.80	1474^th	1514	2.6%
2022	14.17	1738^th	1763	1.4%
2023	14.20	1760^th	1808	2.7%
2024	13.64	1758^th	1793	2.0%

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

Rank History for elementary school Female students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	9.03	1915^th	1964	2.5%
2019	6.06	2016^th	2019	0.1%
2021	10.61	1654^th	1680	1.5%
2022	9.68	1963^rd	1970	0.4%
2023	10.17	1921^st	1957	1.8%
2024	12.30	1856^th	1942	4.4%

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

Rank History for elementary school Disabled students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	22.59	788^th	907	13.1%
2024	19.69	852^nd	886	3.8%

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

Rank History for elementary school Male students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	8.24	1959^th	1972	0.7%
2019	6.69	2019^th	2019	0.0%
2021	12.54	1652^nd	1707	3.2%
2022	11.36	1936^th	1977	2.1%
2023	10.75	1934^th	1984	2.5%
2024	9.26	1941^st	1959	0.9%

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

Rank History for elementary school African American students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	18.53	674^th	698	3.4%
2019	14.92	707^th	711	0.6%
2021	26.86	378^th	428	11.7%
2022	22.00	661^st	684	3.4%
2023	19.67	673^rd	692	2.7%
2024	21.12	615^th	655	6.1%

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

Rank History for elementary school Hispanic students at Ellis Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	14.05	939^th	959	2.1%

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

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

Rank History for Ellis Elementary School

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Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	3.62	1157^th	1185	2.4%
2004	8.53	1084^th	1204	10.0%
2005	7.35	1099^th	1209	9.1%
2006	17.23	1076^th	1272	15.4%
2007	27.42	1011^th	1287	21.4%
2008	44.12	827^th	1293	36.0%
2009	49.65	784^th	1318	40.5%
2010	33.45	993^rd	1327	25.2%
2011	35.68	980^th	1344	27.1%
2012	31.01	1039^th	1365	23.9%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

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

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Ellis Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	117	209	1	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	331
1989	127	192	3	3	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	325
1990	17	244	n/a	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	265
1991	57	280	2	12	0	n/a	n/a	0	351
1992	53	261	0	16	0	n/a	n/a	0	330
1993	57	216	0	9	0	n/a	n/a	0	282
1994	42	217	0	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	266
1995	53	214	0	8	0	n/a	n/a	0	275
1996	53	214	0	8	0	n/a	n/a	0	275
1997	64	187	0	13	0	n/a	n/a	0	264
1998	222	210	4	20	1	n/a	n/a	0	457
1999	239	245	8	22	2	n/a	n/a	0	516
2000	259	310	11	26	1	n/a	n/a	0	607
2001	269	338	14	27	0	n/a	n/a	0	648
2002	191	464	13	48	0	n/a	n/a	0	716
2003	191	464	13	48	0	n/a	n/a	0	716
2004	153	518	11	44	0	n/a	n/a	0	726
2005	106	450	7	35	0	n/a	n/a	38	636
2006	89	444	6	36	0	n/a	n/a	27	602
2007	89	414	2	24	1	n/a	n/a	29	559
2008	80	430	2	29	0	n/a	n/a	31	572
2009	59	429	1	41	0	n/a	n/a	44	574
2010	65	460	2	34	0	n/a	n/a	51	612
2011	65	438	2	48	0	0	51	0	604
2012	80	417	1	58	0	0	49	0	605
2013	37	330	0	38	1	0	53	0	459
2014	31	324	2	37	1	0	43	0	438
2015	28	336	1	31	1	0	49	0	446
2016	34	327	1	36	0	0	43	0	441
2017	70	311	1	56	0	0	41	0	479
2018	54	290	1	52	0	0	38	0	435
2019	42	329	0	33	0	0	41	0	445
2020	33	328	0	37	0	1	51	0	450
2021	28	266	0	44	0	0	43	0	381
2022	32	264	0	45	0	0	37	0	378
2023	34	269	0	55	0	0	43	0	401
2024	42	308	1	67	0	0	42	0	460

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 Ellis Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	331	19.6	16.8	n/a
1989	325	21.0	15.4	n/a
1990	265	18.3	14.4	n/a
1991	351	22.6	15.5	n/a
1992	330	21.6	15.2	n/a
1993	282	18.0	15.7	n/a
1994	266	24.6	10.8	n/a
1995	275	26.0	10.6	n/a
1996	275	26.0	10.6	n/a
1997	264	23.0	11.5	n/a
1998	457	36.0	12.7	n/a
1999	516	38.3	13.5	n/a
2000	607	40.0	15.2	n/a
2001	648	44.5	14.6	n/a
2002	716	40.5	17.7	82.7
2003	716	40.5	17.7	82.7
2004	726	47.0	15.4	75.9
2005	636	43.5	14.6	96.8
2006	602	41.6	14.5	95.8
2007	559	47.0	11.9	97.5
2008	572	43.0	13.3	100.2
2009	574	45.0	12.8	103
2010	612	45.1	13.5	102.5
2011	604	39.6	15.2	87.6
2012	605	39.2	15.4	95.4
2013	459	25.4	18.0	97.6
2014	438	29.0	15.1	98.4
2015	446	23.0	19.3	98.2
2016	441	27.0	16.3	83
2017	479	30.7	15.5	83.1
2018	435	28.6	15.1	79.3
2019	445	31.1	14.3	91
2020	450	31.5	14.2	90.2
2021	381	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	378	26.7	14.1	67.7
2023	401	27.8	14.4	88.8
2024	460	28.0	16.4	92.4

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 Ellis Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	331	19.6	16.8	n/a
1989	325	21.0	15.4	n/a
1990	265	18.3	14.4	n/a
1991	351	22.6	15.5	n/a
1992	330	21.6	15.2	n/a
1993	282	18.0	15.7	n/a
1994	266	24.6	10.8	n/a
1995	275	26.0	10.6	n/a
1996	275	26.0	10.6	n/a
1997	264	23.0	11.5	n/a
1998	457	36.0	12.7	n/a
1999	516	38.3	13.5	n/a
2000	607	40.0	15.2	n/a
2001	648	44.5	14.6	n/a
2002	716	40.5	17.7	82.7
2003	716	40.5	17.7	82.7
2004	726	47.0	15.4	75.9
2005	636	43.5	14.6	96.8
2006	602	41.6	14.5	95.8
2007	559	47.0	11.9	97.5
2008	572	43.0	13.3	100.2
2009	574	45.0	12.8	103
2010	612	45.1	13.5	102.5
2011	604	39.6	15.2	87.6
2012	605	39.2	15.4	95.4
2013	459	25.4	18.0	97.6
2014	438	29.0	15.1	98.4
2015	446	23.0	19.3	98.2
2016	441	27.0	16.3	83
2017	479	30.7	15.5	83.1
2018	435	28.6	15.1	79.3
2019	445	31.1	14.3	91
2020	450	31.5	14.2	90.2
2021	381	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	378	26.7	14.1	67.7
2023	401	27.8	14.4	88.8
2024	460	28.0	16.4	92.4

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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