Best Public Schools in Elizabethtown, IL

Elizabethtown’s three public schools in Hardin County CUSD 1 serve students from prekindergarten through grade 12: Hardin County Elementary School has 216 students, Hardin County Junior High School has 107, and Hardin County High School has 175. Results vary by school and subject, and high school attendance is a notable concern: 51% of students were chronically absent in 2025–26, compared with 24% statewide. The clearest area-wide academic finding is that elementary ELA is a strength, while math—especially at junior high—is the sharper concern.

Hardin County Elementary School stands out at the top for ELA: its 2025–26 all-grades IAR result was 70% proficient, 14 percentage points above the state’s 56%; it also exceeded the state in each reported grade, by 8 to 27 points. The largest clear academic gap is Hardin County Junior High School math: 18% proficient, 21 points below the state’s 40%. Hardin County High School also trails state results on several measures: grade 10 PreACT ELA was 29%, 24 points below the state, while grade 11 ACT ELA was 39%, 11 points below, and ACT science was 33%, 15 points below. These comparisons are against the state result for the same grade and assessment.

Recent changes show improvement in IAR ELA but not a matching rise in math: elementary ELA increased 18 points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, and junior high ELA rose 14 points; elementary math fell 5 points, while junior high math was nearly unchanged. High school results were mixed: grade 10 PreACT ELA fell 15 points, but grade 9 PreACT science rose 18 points, bringing its state gap from 26 points to 5. SchoolDigger’s 2025–26 percentiles were 71 for elementary, 34 for junior high, and 23 for high school; its ratings were 4, 2, and 1 stars, respectively. In school year 2024–25, student-teacher ratios ranged from 10.5 at elementary to 14.0 at high school. The reported measure, free/reduced lunch eligible, was 67% at elementary, 55% at junior high, and 53% at high school in that same school year; these are context figures, not explanations for achievement.