Schools in Zip Code 61739

ZIP code 61739 has two schools in Prairie Central CUSD 8: Prairie Central Elementary School, serving grades 2–4 with 367 students, and Prairie Central High School, serving grades 9–12 with 487 students. The clearest difference is in math: elementary results are well above state levels, while every reported high-school math result is below its matching state benchmark.

Prairie Central Elementary stands out in 2025–26 IAR math: 53% of students were proficient overall, 13 percentage points above the state; grades 3 and 4 were 6 and 8 points above state results. Its ELA scores are more uneven: grade 4 was 66%, 10 points above state, while grade 3 was 46%, 1 point below. At Prairie Central High, strengths include grade 11 ACT ELA, 52% and 2 points above state, and grade 10 PreACT science, 57% and 9 points above state. Math is the clearest concern: ACT grade 11 was 28%, 12 points below state, and PreACT math was 27% in grade 9 and 28% in grade 10, respectively 15 and 8 points below. The schools serve different grades and take different tests, so these are state-relative profiles, not direct score rankings.

Recent results show gains and setbacks rather than one consistent trend. Elementary all-grades math rose 15 points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, while ELA fell 3 points. High-school ACT ELA rose 5 points and science 7, but math fell 4; PreACT grade 9 science dropped 17 points while grade 10 science rose 6. SchoolDigger ranks the high school at the 45th percentile, down 17 percentile points from 2023–24, while the elementary school is at the 55th percentile, up 11 points over that period. The high school’s 96.8% graduation rate is 7 points above state, alongside chronic absenteeism of 30%, 7 points above state; elementary chronic absenteeism is 10%, 13 points below state. For context, both schools report free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–25: 40% at the high school and 44% at the elementary school. Student-teacher ratios are 11.7 and 12.3, respectively.