Summary:
Elementary schools in zip code 61802 include two K–5 schools, Dr Preston L Williams Junior Elementary School and Thomas Paine Elementary School, both in Urbana School District 116. The clearest concern is that both schools’ 2025–2026 proficiency results are well below Illinois averages: their two-school average is 19% in ELA versus 56% statewide, and 10% in math versus 40% statewide. That leaves the area’s average 37 percentage points below the state in ELA and 30 points below in math.
Thomas Paine leads the available 2025–2026 all-grades comparisons, with 24% proficient in ELA and 12% in math, compared with 15% and 7% at Williams—gaps of 9 and 6 percentage points. Both remain below the state, but Paine’s deficits are smaller: 33 points in ELA and 27 in math, versus Williams’s 41 and 33 points. The lead varies by grade: fourth-grade ELA is nearly even, at 22.8% for Paine and 22.7% for Williams. Science is mixed: Paine led in 2024–2025, with 21% versus 14% at Williams, while Paine’s 2025–2026 result is suppressed, so a current science leader cannot be determined.
Both schools improved in ELA and math from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, though the gains were modest in math: ELA rose 6.7 points at Williams and 7.4 at Paine; math rose 1.6 and 1.7 points, respectively. SchoolDigger ranked Williams at the 1st percentile statewide and Paine at the 7th percentile in 2024–2025; Paine was at the 3rd percentile in 2025–2026, and the district at the 3rd percentile. Paine also reports a lower student-teacher ratio (9.2 versus 12.6) and lower free/reduced lunch eligibility in 2024–2025 (72% versus 89%); these are contextual differences, not explanations for test results. Chronic absenteeism is high at both schools in 2025–2026: 38% at Paine and 44% at Williams, compared with 24% statewide.
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