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Parkside Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-5
1201st
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,737 Illinois Elementary Schools
Better than 31% of Illinois elementary schools
Summary

Parkside Elementary School serves prekindergarten through grade 5 in Normal, a community in McLean County, and enrolls 322 students in McLean County Unified School District 5. Its results are mixed: ELA has improved, while Mathematics rose and then slipped, and both subjects remain below state and district results. The clearest concern is Mathematics, where the school trails the nearby-school average as well as state and district results.

Compared with nearby K–5 schools, the school is more competitive in ELA: 46% of students were proficient, about 1 point above the nearby average, ranking fifth among 10 schools. Mathematics proficiency was 29%, below the nearby average of 32%, and ranked sixth. Fifth-grade Science is a relative bright spot locally and against the state: 45% were proficient, about 1 point above the nearby average and 3 points below the state, though 10 points below the district. Results also vary by grade: grade 3 had the lowest ELA proficiency at 35%, while grade 4 Mathematics was 32%. Attendance is better than the benchmarks: chronic absenteeism was 20%, compared with 24% in both the district and state.

ELA proficiency climbed from 19% in 2023–2024 to 46% in 2025–2026, narrowing its gap with the state; Mathematics rose from 18% to 33%, then fell to 29%. SchoolDigger rates the school at the 31st statewide percentile with 2 stars for 2025–2026; its percentile has fluctuated, at 30 in 2023–2024 and 36 in 2024–2025. One notable concern is SchoolDigger’s ranking of how well the school serves African American students: it was at the 0th statewide percentile in 2024–2025, compared with the school’s overall 36th percentile that year; the group was at the 63rd percentile in 2021–2022. The school’s 13.9 student-teacher ratio is near the nearby average of 13.6, and its free/reduced lunch eligible measure was 53% in 2024–2025, compared with 50% at nearby schools on average.

322
Students ?
13.9
Student/teacher ratio ?
$16,876
Per pupil spending ?
53.1%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
95.3%
Measles protection (all grades) (2025-26)
 1900 W College Ave
       Normal, IL  61761-2368

(309) 557-4422

District: McLean County Unified School District 5


Students who attend Parkside Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Parkside Junior High School
High:    Normal Community West High School
Racial breakdown:

White:
50.9%
Hispanic:
19.9%
African American:
14.0%
more
 See top rated Illinois elementary schools

 Compare Parkside Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 43rd percentile in 2016 → 31st in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Illinois average (40% vs 48% meeting standards)
!Ranking has slipped — down 12 percentile points since 2016
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school40%
District avg50%
Illinois avg48%
1,201st of 1,737
Illinois public elementary schools ?
Bottom 31%▼ down 13 pts since 2016
From bottom 43% (2016) to bottom 31% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Illinois Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
10th of 15Elementary Schools in the McLean County Unified School District 5
426th of 738McLean County Unified School District 5 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
202629.01201 of 173730.9%★★☆☆☆
202535.21309 of 205636.3%★★☆☆☆
202428.71443 of 206730.2%★★☆☆☆
202336.11258 of 207739.4%★★☆☆☆
202229.91402 of 208232.7%★★☆☆☆
202146.2929 of 194852.3%★★★☆☆
201959.0803 of 208661.5%★★★☆☆
201839.41190 of 203741.6%★★☆☆☆
201739.91173 of 204442.6%★★☆☆☆
201640.81156 of 204643.5%★★☆☆☆
201541.51098 of 205246.5%★★☆☆☆
201469.6640 of 209369.4%★★★☆☆
201363.1856 of 216760.5%★★★☆☆
201250.71285 of 216640.7%★★☆☆☆
201151.01259 of 214741.4%★★☆☆☆
201050.21287 of 213939.8%★★☆☆☆
200952.71219 of 212042.5%★★☆☆☆
200855.71139 of 209245.6%★★☆☆☆
200747.91362 of 209535.0%★★☆☆☆
200659.31074 of 208648.5%★★☆☆☆
200556.91075 of 202246.8%★★☆☆☆
200471.2656 of 203067.7%★★★☆☆
200381.1310 of 202084.7%★★★★☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202510.9686 of 6880.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202250.7252 of 68463.2%★★★☆☆
201940.6383 of 71146.1%★★☆☆☆
201826.5574 of 69817.8%★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202537.4620 of 104940.9%★★☆☆☆
202332.1592 of 90734.7%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202528.91394 of 194228.2%★☆☆☆☆
202433.21232 of 194236.6%★★☆☆☆
202339.81109 of 195743.3%★★☆☆☆
202232.51258 of 197036.1%★★☆☆☆
202142.1884 of 168047.4%★★☆☆☆
201966.9610 of 201969.8%★★★☆☆
201840.11134 of 196442.3%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202531.41298 of 180027.9%★☆☆☆☆
202429.51326 of 179326.0%★☆☆☆☆
202329.71338 of 180826.0%★☆☆☆☆
202225.71403 of 176320.4%★☆☆☆☆
202125.31234 of 151418.5%★☆☆☆☆
201950.1818 of 181655.0%★★★☆☆
201828.81340 of 176524.1%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202627.8976 of 131125.6%★☆☆☆☆
202540.91115 of 194742.7%★★☆☆☆
202426.01418 of 195927.6%★☆☆☆☆
202333.11255 of 198436.7%★★☆☆☆
202228.71336 of 197732.4%★★☆☆☆
202139.7946 of 170744.6%★★☆☆☆
201947.7970 of 201952.0%★★★☆☆
201838.91143 of 197242.0%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202529.4901 of 129230.3%★★☆☆☆
202330.9771 of 115633.3%★★☆☆☆
201932.1784 of 119434.3%★★☆☆☆
201833.5470 of 76338.4%★★☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202638.5767 of 114933.2%★★☆☆☆
202537.5941 of 138932.3%★★☆☆☆
202420.31180 of 139215.2%★☆☆☆☆
202329.81052 of 141925.9%★☆☆☆☆
202220.71216 of 142514.7%★☆☆☆☆
202144.1700 of 130846.5%★★☆☆☆
201958.8576 of 146260.6%★★★☆☆
201836.4949 of 146335.1%★★☆☆☆
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 (2025)41st percentile+5 vs school
White (2026)33rd percentile~ school
Special Education (2025)30th percentile-6 vs school
Female (2025)28th percentile-8 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)28th percentile-8 vs school
Male (2026)26th percentile-5 vs school
African American (2025)<1st percentile-36 vs school
By subject vs Illinois (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts46%-10 vs state
Science45%~ state avg
Mathematics29%-10 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Parkside Elementary School

In the 2024-25 school year, 322 students attended Parkside Elementary School.

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

Middle : Parkside Junior High School
High : Normal Community West High School

Parkside Elementary School ranks 1201st of 1737 Illinois elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Students at Parkside Elementary School are 51% White, 20% Hispanic, 14% African American, 14% Two or more races, 2% Asian.

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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)Oct 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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