Summary:
The Bushnell-Prairie City Elementary School is the sole elementary school serving grades PK-5 in the Bushnell Prairie City CUSD 170 district. With an enrollment of 312 students, the school has consistently ranked in the bottom 10-15% of Illinois elementary schools over the past three years, earning a 1 out of 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Academically, the school struggles, with proficiency rates in ELA and Math significantly below the state averages in the 2024-2025 school year (17.8% vs. 53.1% in ELA, and 16.8% vs. 38.5% in Math). The school's 5th-grade science proficiency rate was also low at 18.4%, compared to the state average of 40.6%. Additionally, the school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 25.4%, which may be contributing to the poor academic performance.
Socioeconomic factors may also play a role, as the school has a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 58.97%. Despite the relatively high per-student spending of $16,135 and a low student-teacher ratio of 10.4 to 1, the school's resources do not seem to be translating into strong academic outcomes, suggesting a need to address the effectiveness of instructional practices and resource allocation.
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