Summary:
Cortland, Illinois, has one listed school, Cortland Elementary School, serving kindergarten through grade 5 with 523 students. The clearest concern is that its current proficiency results are substantially below state levels: all-grades ELA is 34% versus 56% statewide, all-grades math is 19% versus 40%, and grade 5 science is 26% versus 48%. These gaps are about 21–22 percentage points, making the distance from state results the most important finding for families.
Within the school, grade 4 ELA stands out as a relative high point: 41% of students were proficient, 9 points above the 32% district result. Grade 3 math was another relative strength at 27%, 4 points above the district’s 23%. Results were weaker against the district in grade 5: ELA was 32% versus 35%, math was 16% versus 21%, and science was 26% versus 31%. Grade 4 math proficiency was suppressed, so no school figure is available. Chronic absenteeism was a favorable result: 13% in 2025–2026, compared with 26% in the district and 24% statewide.
Recent results moved in different directions. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, all-grades ELA rose from 29% to 34%, narrowing its gap with the state by 2 points. Math fell from 23% to 19%, widening its state gap by 5 points; grade 5 science fell from 30% to 26%, while its state gap widened by 11 points. SchoolDigger ranked Cortland Elementary School 1,577th of 1,737 schools in 2025–2026, at the 9th percentile with 0 stars; its prior rankings were 1,588th of 2,056 (23rd percentile, 1 star) in 2024–2025 and 1,667th of 2,067 (19th percentile, 1 star) in 2023–2024. The school’s student–teacher ratio was 13:1, and 62% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025. With only one school listed, families cannot compare schools within Cortland.
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