Summary:
The 61418 zip code area is home to two elementary schools, West Central Elementary School and West Central Early Childhood, both part of the West Central CUSD 235 district. The data reveals that these schools are struggling, with both performing significantly below state averages on academic assessments and serving a high-need student population.
West Central Elementary School has consistently low performance, with only 31.5% of students proficient or better in ELA and 28.6% in Math for the 2024-2025 school year, compared to state averages of 53.1% in ELA and 38.5% in Math. The school's performance has also declined over the past two years, with proficiency rates dropping from 21.3% in ELA and 13.8% in Math in 2023-2024. Additionally, the school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 25.4%, which may contribute to its low academic performance.
While West Central Elementary School spends $13,071 per student, which is higher than the state average, the district as a whole is ranked 736 out of 811 in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger, indicating that the district may be struggling to effectively utilize its resources. In contrast, West Central Early Childhood has a slightly lower per-student spending of $11,858 and a higher student-teacher ratio of 18, which may present challenges in providing individualized attention to students.
Thank you for your feedback!