Best Public Schools in Paxton, IL

Paxton, Illinois, has three schools serving prekindergarten through grade 12: Clara Peterson Elementary School (PK–5), Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High School (6–8), and Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School (9–12), with 1,230 students enrolled altogether. The most important finding is a sharp difference in reported ELA results: the junior high is well above the state, while the elementary school is below it.

The junior high leads the elementary school on 2025–2026 all-grades IAR results: ELA proficiency was 67% versus 47%, a 20-point gap, and math was 43% versus 40%, a 3-point gap. Compared with state results, the junior high was 11 points higher in ELA and 3 points higher in math; the elementary school was 9 points lower in ELA and about level in math (39.8% versus 39.6%). The elementary school’s grade-level results vary: grade 3 math was 6 points above state, while grade 5 math was 17 points below. At the high school, grades 9 and 10 math were 9 and 8 points above state, respectively, but grade 9 science was 9 points below; grade 11 ACT results were below state in ELA, math, and science.

Recent changes are mixed: junior-high all-grades ELA rose 7 points from the prior year, while the elementary school’s ELA result rose 1 point and its gap to state widened. High school grade 11 ACT proficiency fell 9 points in ELA and 9 in math year over year, while PreACT trends differed by grade and subject. SchoolDigger’s statewide rankings also fell from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026: from the 50th to 33rd percentile at the elementary school, 70th to 60th at the junior high, and 87th to 63rd at the high school. For context, 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 12.7, 11.5, and 11.1, respectively; free/reduced lunch eligible shares that year were 40%, 48%, and 44%. These measures provide context, not explanations for test results.