Summary:
Normal has nine elementary schools: eight serve PK/K–5 and Thomas Metcalf School serves PK–8. In 2025–2026, the schools’ equal-school averages were 55% in ELA and 38% in math, compared with state results of 56% and 40%; their fifth-grade science average was stronger, at 55% versus 48% statewide. Results vary widely from school to school: the nine-school spread was 49 percentage points in ELA and 43 points in math. The most important finding for families is that Normal’s schools are not a uniformly high- or low-scoring group—the differences between local schools are substantial.
Thomas Metcalf led the supplied all-grades results, with 82% proficient in ELA, 62% in math, and 78% in fifth-grade science—about 26, 22, and 30 percentage points above state results, respectively. Among the eight PK/K–5 schools, Grove led ELA at 76%, while Prairieland led math at 60%. At the lower end, Sugar Creek had the lowest ELA and math results, at 34% and 19%, while Oakdale had the lowest fifth-grade science result, 38%. Metcalf’s PK–8 grade span is broader than the other schools’ and makes its all-grades results less directly comparable.
Recent trends are mixed: the nine-school ELA average increased by 2 percentage points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, but the state improved more; the local math average fell by 4 points while the state rose by 1. Prairieland was the only school whose gains in both subjects exceeded the state’s year-to-year changes, while Glenn had the largest declines: 13 points in ELA and 15 in math. Context also differs: 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares ranged from 7% at Metcalf to 65% at Oakdale, and student-teacher ratios ranged from 8.6 at Metcalf to 18.5 at Sugar Creek; these measures accompany, but do not explain, the varied results.
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