Is West Elementary School a good school?

West Elementary School ranks 1095 th of 2067 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend West Elementary School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 253 students attended West Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of West Elementary School?

Students at West Elementary School are 66% White, 19% Hispanic, 7% Two or more races, 7% African American.

What schools do graduates of West Elementary School attend?

Students who attend West Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : Sycamore Middle School High : Sycamore High School

West Elementary School

Summary:

West Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Sycamore, Illinois, serving 253 students in grades K-5. It is part of the Sycamore CUSD 427 district, which is ranked 321 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

West Elementary School faces several challenges, including a high chronic absenteeism rate of 22.0%, which is notably higher than the district average of 14.9%. The school's academic performance, as measured by the percentage of students proficient or better in IAR/English Language Arts and IAR/Mathematics, is generally lower than the district and state averages. For example, in 2023-2024, the school's proficiency rate in IAR/English Language Arts for all grades was 32.4%, compared to 42.1% for the district and 41.2% for the state. Similarly, the school's proficiency rate in IAR/Mathematics for all grades was 20.7%, compared to 31.7% for the district and 28.4% for the state. The school's performance also varies significantly across different student subgroups, with Hispanic students and students with low socioeconomic status performing relatively well, while the performance for White students and students with special needs has been in the bottom half of the state.

West Elementary School's performance is generally lower than the nearby North Elementary School and North Grove Elementary School within the Sycamore CUSD 427 district. Additionally, the school's statewide ranking has steadily declined over the past several years, from 656 out of 2,046 Illinois elementary schools in 2015-2016 to 1,095 out of 2,067 in 2023-2024. The high percentage of free and reduced-price lunch recipients (50.59% in 2022-2023) may be a contributing factor to the school's lower academic performance.

Detail:

Public K-5

240 S Fair St
Sycamore, IL 60178-1641

(815) 899-8219

District: Sycamore CUSD 427

SchoolDigger Rank:
1095^th of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $16,560

Students who attend West Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Sycamore Middle School
High:	Sycamore High School

Student/teacher ratio: 11.0

Number of students: 253

Racial breakdown:

White:

66.0%

Hispanic:

19.4%

Two or more races:

7.1%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 50.6%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare West Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details West Elementary School ranks worse than 53% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks last among 5 ranked elementary schools in the Sycamore CUSD 427 School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 42.86. (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 West Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the Sycamore CUSD 427 School District. (See more...)

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at West Elementary School is $16,560, which is the highest among 5 elementary schools in the Sycamore CUSD 427 School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

West Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks West Elementary School 1095^th of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See West Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

White students:

Sycamore CUSD 427:

SchoolDigger ranks Sycamore CUSD 427 321^st of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for West Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	78.82	389^th	2020	80.7%
2004	55.87	1101^st	2030	45.8%
2005	68.51	732^nd	2022	63.8%
2006	68.73	753^rd	2086	63.9%
2007	61.63	987^th	2095	52.9%
2008	74.27	574^th	2092	72.6%
2009	75.74	533^rd	2120	74.9%
2010	64.22	935^th	2139	56.3%
2011	64.46	914^th	2147	57.4%
2012	72.16	653^rd	2166	69.9%
2013	71.40	632^nd	2167	70.8%
2014	63.03	808^th	2093	61.4%
2015	58.10	749^th	2052	63.5%
2016	64.10	656^th	2046	67.9%
2017	61.92	701^st	2044	65.7%
2018	58.83	786^th	2037	61.4%
2019	55.76	865^th	2086	58.5%
2021	44.32	963^rd	1948	50.6%
2022	67.35	610^th	2082	70.7%
2023	58.28	773^rd	2077	62.8%
2024	42.86	1095^th	2067	47.0%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	51.39	448^th	1194	62.5%
2022	49.35	419^th	1113	62.4%
2023	34.72	697^th	1156	39.7%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	59.52	569^th	1765	67.8%
2019	54.35	699^th	1816	61.5%
2021	44.62	746^th	1514	50.7%
2022	67.11	381^st	1763	78.4%
2023	58.76	597^th	1808	67.0%
2024	44.32	948^th	1793	47.1%

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

Rank History for Female students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	53.71	838^th	1964	57.3%
2019	49.68	952^nd	2019	52.8%
2021	32.13	1103^rd	1680	34.3%
2022	58.36	717^th	1970	63.6%
2023	56.97	742^nd	1957	62.1%
2024	50.33	864^th	1942	55.5%

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

Rank History for Male students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	63.02	650^th	1972	67.0%
2019	60.91	706^th	2019	65.0%
2021	52.44	681^st	1707	60.1%
2022	67.10	558^th	1977	71.8%
2023	56.88	748^th	1984	62.3%
2024	34.91	1198^th	1959	38.8%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	70.36	176^th	954	81.6%
2023	55.82	338^th	970	65.2%

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

Rank History for White students at West Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	45.91	796^th	1463	45.6%
2019	39.89	916^th	1462	37.3%
2021	30.55	968^th	1308	26.0%
2022	55.01	612^th	1425	57.1%
2023	47.44	743^rd	1419	47.6%
2024	36.12	927^th	1392	33.4%

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 West Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	279	27	1	6	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	313
1989	338	24	2	9	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	373
1990	303	14	8	5	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	330
1991	301	16	5	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	325
1992	303	10	8	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	325
1993	330	9	4	3	4	n/a	n/a	0	350
1994	342	8	5	8	2	n/a	n/a	0	365
1995	423	22	7	12	2	n/a	n/a	0	466
1996	423	22	7	12	2	n/a	n/a	0	466
1997	418	22	5	15	2	n/a	n/a	0	462
1998	409	15	3	8	2	n/a	n/a	0	437
1999	298	12	1	10	0	n/a	n/a	0	321
2000	262	19	1	10	0	n/a	n/a	0	292
2001	266	15	3	13	0	n/a	n/a	0	297
2002	214	24	2	12	0	n/a	n/a	0	252
2003	214	24	2	12	0	n/a	n/a	0	252
2004	217	20	5	15	1	n/a	n/a	0	258
2005	255	14	1	19	1	n/a	n/a	0	290
2006	243	16	2	20	2	n/a	n/a	10	293
2007	253	20	3	25	3	n/a	n/a	20	324
2008	272	15	3	26	2	n/a	n/a	13	331
2009	305	14	4	27	2	n/a	n/a	16	368
2010	260	10	2	25	2	n/a	n/a	23	322
2011	246	11	2	12	2	0	36	0	309
2012	229	12	3	13	3	0	36	0	296
2013	221	14	3	10	2	0	41	0	291
2014	209	19	2	9	2	0	41	0	282
2015	213	20	2	13	1	0	44	0	293
2016	203	14	1	15	2	0	39	0	274
2017	205	11	1	15	4	0	34	0	270
2018	204	20	1	44	2	0	11	0	282
2019	191	16	0	50	3	0	12	0	272
2020	204	15	0	47	2	0	12	0	280
2021	181	21	0	46	0	0	12	0	260
2022	184	17	1	55	0	0	16	0	273
2023	167	17	2	49	0	0	18	0	253

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 West Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	313	18.0	17.3	n/a
1989	373	19.0	19.6	n/a
1990	330	20.0	16.5	n/a
1991	325	21.9	14.8	n/a
1992	325	23.1	14.0	n/a
1993	350	22.2	15.8	n/a
1994	365	22.5	16.2	n/a
1995	466	23.0	20.3	n/a
1996	466	23.0	20.3	n/a
1997	462	23.0	20.1	n/a
1998	437	23.5	18.6	n/a
1999	321	19.5	16.5	n/a
2000	292	19.9	14.7	n/a
2001	297	18.0	16.5	n/a
2002	252	19.0	13.3	31
2003	252	19.0	13.3	31
2004	258	17.0	15.2	28.7
2005	290	17.5	16.6	29
2006	293	18.0	16.3	31.4
2007	324	18.0	18.0	35.9
2008	331	20.0	16.6	28.3
2009	368	22.0	16.7	32.1
2010	322	19.0	16.9	46.2
2011	309	19.7	15.6	47.6
2012	296	19.0	15.5	52.7
2013	291	27.0	10.7	50.2
2014	282	20.3	13.8	49.3
2015	293	20.0	14.6	52.6
2016	274	19.0	14.4	53.3
2017	270	17.7	15.2	48.9
2018	282	20.7	13.6	45
2019	272	20.0	13.6	47.1
2020	280	20.4	13.7	48.6
2021	260	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	273	23.6	11.5	35.9
2023	253	23.0	11.0	50.6

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 West Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	313	18.0	17.3	n/a
1989	373	19.0	19.6	n/a
1990	330	20.0	16.5	n/a
1991	325	21.9	14.8	n/a
1992	325	23.1	14.0	n/a
1993	350	22.2	15.8	n/a
1994	365	22.5	16.2	n/a
1995	466	23.0	20.3	n/a
1996	466	23.0	20.3	n/a
1997	462	23.0	20.1	n/a
1998	437	23.5	18.6	n/a
1999	321	19.5	16.5	n/a
2000	292	19.9	14.7	n/a
2001	297	18.0	16.5	n/a
2002	252	19.0	13.3	31
2003	252	19.0	13.3	31
2004	258	17.0	15.2	28.7
2005	290	17.5	16.6	29
2006	293	18.0	16.3	31.4
2007	324	18.0	18.0	35.9
2008	331	20.0	16.6	28.3
2009	368	22.0	16.7	32.1
2010	322	19.0	16.9	46.2
2011	309	19.7	15.6	47.6
2012	296	19.0	15.5	52.7
2013	291	27.0	10.7	50.2
2014	282	20.3	13.8	49.3
2015	293	20.0	14.6	52.6
2016	274	19.0	14.4	53.3
2017	270	17.7	15.2	48.9
2018	282	20.7	13.6	45
2019	272	20.0	13.6	47.1
2020	280	20.4	13.7	48.6
2021	260	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	273	23.6	11.5	35.9
2023	253	23.0	11.0	50.6

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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