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Nicholson Elementary School

Public Grades K-5
1366th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,737 Illinois Elementary Schools
Better than 21% of Illinois elementary schools
Summary

Nicholson Elementary School in Montgomery, Illinois, serves 337 students in kindergarten through grade 5 in Aurora West Unified School District 129, in an area with nearby schools in Montgomery and Aurora. Its clearest academic concern is fifth-grade ELA: 25% of students were proficient in 2025–2026, 30 points below the state and 13 below the district.

Math is Nicholson’s strongest subject compared with local schools and its district, though results remain below the state: all-grades proficiency was 33%, versus 30% districtwide, 25% for nearby schools on average and 40% statewide. ELA was 35%, close to the nearby-school average of 35% but below the district’s 44% and the state’s 56%. Fifth-grade science was 35%, about level with the district and local average, but 13 points below the state. Results vary by grade: fourth-grade math reached 46%, above the state’s 42% and district’s 33%, while fifth-grade math was just 20%.

Results have risen over time: from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026, ELA proficiency increased from 16% to 35%, and math from 12% to 33%; the math gap to the state narrowed by 10 points. Chronic absenteeism also fell from 34% in 2021–2022 to 15% in 2025–2026, below the state’s 24% and district’s 18%. SchoolDigger gives Nicholson a 21st-percentile statewide ranking and 1 star for 2025–2026. Its 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was 15.9, compared with 15.1 for nearby schools on average, and 59% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025. SchoolDigger’s subgroup rankings show stronger relative standings for Hispanic students—41st percentile in 2025–2026 versus 21st overall—and a sharp rise for English Language Learner Students, from the 8th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 45th in 2024–2025.

337
Students ?
15.9
Student/teacher ratio ?
$20,798
Per pupil spending ?
58.8%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
97.5%
Measles protection (all grades) (2025-26)
 649 N Main St
       Montgomery, IL  60538-1225

(630) 301-5013

District: Aurora West Unified School District 129


Students who attend Nicholson Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Washington Middle School
High:    West Aurora High School
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
74.2%
White:
12.2%
African American:
9.8%
more
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 Compare Nicholson Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 33rd percentile in 2016 → 21st in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Illinois average (34% vs 48% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (21st percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 12 percentile points since 2016
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school34%
District avg37%
Illinois avg48%
1,366th of 1,737
Illinois public elementary schools ?
Bottom 21%▼ down 12 pts since 2016
From bottom 33% (2016) to bottom 21% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Illinois Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
6th of 10Elementary Schools in the Aurora West Unified School District 129
647th of 738Aurora West Unified School District 129 among Illinois districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202620.81366 of 173721.4%★☆☆☆☆
202532.31379 of 205632.9%★★☆☆☆
202422.91597 of 206722.7%★☆☆☆☆
202319.41699 of 207718.2%★☆☆☆☆
202224.41530 of 208226.5%★☆☆☆☆
202119.11610 of 194817.4%★☆☆☆☆
201921.71674 of 208619.8%★☆☆☆☆
201825.41531 of 203724.8%★☆☆☆☆
201725.91521 of 204425.6%★☆☆☆☆
201632.01370 of 204633.0%★★☆☆☆
201527.41497 of 205227.0%★☆☆☆☆
201421.31730 of 209317.3%★☆☆☆☆
201346.61231 of 216743.2%★★☆☆☆
201222.61806 of 216616.6%★☆☆☆☆
20115.12088 of 21472.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201014.01918 of 213910.3%★☆☆☆☆
200917.91830 of 212013.7%★☆☆☆☆
200835.91528 of 209227.0%★☆☆☆☆
200726.41733 of 209517.3%★☆☆☆☆
200627.51697 of 208618.6%★☆☆☆☆
200535.41485 of 202226.6%★☆☆☆☆
200424.01668 of 203017.8%★☆☆☆☆
200322.51639 of 202018.9%★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202440.8461 of 88648.0%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202542.4434 of 78844.9%★★☆☆☆
202423.7764 of 8267.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202329.2651 of 78817.4%★☆☆☆☆
202236.8504 of 76834.4%★★☆☆☆
202132.9404 of 53724.8%★☆☆☆☆
201924.5680 of 7438.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201836.0485 of 71832.5%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202527.31439 of 194225.9%★☆☆☆☆
202420.91562 of 194219.6%★☆☆☆☆
202316.91710 of 195712.6%★☆☆☆☆
202228.51360 of 197031.0%★★☆☆☆
202122.71310 of 168022.0%★☆☆☆☆
201922.01642 of 201918.7%★☆☆☆☆
201820.81592 of 196418.9%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202635.4318 of 53640.7%★★☆☆☆
202548.3472 of 98251.9%★★★☆☆
202430.9679 of 95929.2%★☆☆☆☆
202323.1836 of 97013.8%★☆☆☆☆
202227.7740 of 95422.4%★☆☆☆☆
202121.1693 of 7426.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201925.6787 of 95517.6%★☆☆☆☆
201835.5595 of 93836.6%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202633.2679 of 100132.2%★★☆☆☆
202543.11038 of 180042.3%★★☆☆☆
202426.81402 of 179321.8%★☆☆☆☆
202341.91004 of 180844.5%★★☆☆☆
202244.1923 of 176347.6%★★☆☆☆
202131.31086 of 151428.3%★☆☆☆☆
201935.11242 of 181631.6%★★☆☆☆
201830.61291 of 176526.9%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202620.91066 of 131118.7%★☆☆☆☆
202537.41190 of 194738.9%★★☆☆☆
202425.41435 of 195926.7%★☆☆☆☆
202324.41470 of 198425.9%★☆☆☆☆
202220.81565 of 197720.8%★☆☆☆☆
202116.11528 of 170710.5%★☆☆☆☆
201923.91567 of 201922.4%★☆☆☆☆
201832.51326 of 197232.8%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202431.2809 of 119532.3%★★☆☆☆
202321.81015 of 115612.2%★☆☆☆☆
201928.4881 of 119426.2%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20191.71461 of 14620.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201819.61268 of 146313.3%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Disabled (2024)48th percentile+25 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)45th percentile+12 vs school
Hispanic (2026)41st percentile+19 vs school
Special Education (2024)32nd percentile+10 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)32nd percentile+11 vs school
Female (2025)26th percentile-7 vs school
Male (2026)19th percentile-3 vs school
White (2019)<1st percentile-20 vs school
By subject vs Illinois (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts35%-21 vs state
Science34%-13 vs state
Mathematics33%-7 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Nicholson Elementary School

Students at Nicholson Elementary School are 74% Hispanic, 12% White, 10% African American, 3% Two or more races.

Students who attend Nicholson Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Washington Middle School
High : West Aurora High School

Nicholson Elementary School ranks in the bottom 21.4% of Illinois elementary schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 337 students attended Nicholson Elementary School.

Rate Nicholson Elementary School!



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Latest Illinois data All new data »
2025–26 school spending dataNewOct 30, 2026
2025–26 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesNewOct 30, 2026
2025–26 ACT, IAR, ISA & PreACT Secure test scoresNewOct 30, 2026
2013–14 through 2025–26 immunization rates (updated)NewOct 19, 2026


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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