Central School District 51

Central School District 51 has two schools: Central Primary School serves PK–4, and Central Intermediate School serves grades 5–8. The 2025–2026 results show a consistent strength across the area: both schools scored above the state in every reported grade and subject.

Central Intermediate School stands out for the largest state-relative advantages, especially in ELA: grade 7 students scored 87% compared with 58% statewide, a 30-point advantage. Its grade 8 math result was 68% versus 35% statewide, a 33-point advantage; grade 8 science was 78% versus 52%, a 26-point advantage. Central Primary School also exceeded the state in every reported comparison, though by smaller margins: in grade 3, ELA was 62% versus 48% statewide and math was 65% versus 49%; in grade 4, ELA was 68% versus 56%, and math was 58% versus 42%. Thus, Primary’s results are positive but closer to state levels; no reported grade-level result at either school was below the state.

All-grades scores rose from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026 at both schools: Primary gained 7 points in ELA and 4 in math, while Intermediate gained 3 points in ELA and 4 in math. Science also improved at Intermediate, but the state’s gains were larger in both tested grades. SchoolDigger ranks Primary at the 73rd percentile with 4 stars and Intermediate at the 92nd percentile with 5 stars; the schools are ranked among different school types. For additional context, the 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 16.2 at Primary and 18.1 at Intermediate, and both schools reported free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025: 20% at Primary and 12% at Intermediate. Because the schools serve different, non-overlapping grades, their all-grades scores are not like-for-like comparisons.