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Best kept secret at Ben-Gil Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
523
Elementary
DISTRICT 365 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GILLESPIE CUSD 7·NCES 171668001973
Ben-Gil Elementary School
340 Kelly St, Gillespie, IL 62033 · (217) 839-4828 · Macoupin County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL523 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.1:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
346 students
DISTRICT 62% · STATE 56%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 77 | 15% |
| Kindergarten | 53 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 94 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 74 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 74 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (53) is 28% smaller than its 5th grade class (74).
Student demographics
11%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 11% · STATE 69% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Gillespie CUSD 7. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
58.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +15.3pp since 2023
Math
40.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +8.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 59 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 40 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Illinois schools, those numbers are about 51 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 15 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 58.8% | 40.0% |
| 2023-24 | 43.5% | 31.1% |
% Proficient (Levels 4-5), all students and all tested grades.
Source: IAR + ISA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
47.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+14.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 33% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 14 points, placing it in Illinois's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Ben-Gil Elementary School
Ben-Gil Elementary School's state test result (47.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben-Gil Elementary School this school | 523 | 66.2% | 47.7% |
| Benton Grade School K-4 Benton | 571 | 67.3% | 35.2% |
| Parkside Elementary School Lawrenceville | 528 | 70.5% | 37.5% |
| Altamont Grade School Altamont | 462 | 62.3% | 52.7% |
| Christopher Elementary School Christopher | 510 | 60.6% | 35.3% |
| North Elementary School Taylorville | 522 | 60.0% | N/A |
Matched among Illinois elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Ben-Gil Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Macoupin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.7% | #653 of 1,925 | #4 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 40.0% | #964 of 2,077 ▼ 190 | #5 of 8 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.8% | #715 of 2,077 ▼ 34 | #4 of 8 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 523 | #456 of 2,419 | #2 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #703 of 2,035 | #3 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 10.7% | #1,872 of 2,042 | #7 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.2% | #843 of 2,132 | #1 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.1% | #404 of 1,461 | #3 of 8 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
523
0 (0%) vs 2020
+85% since 1990-91, when it was 283
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 523 | 42 | 12.4:1 | 66% (346) |
| 2023-24 | 547 | 45.2 | 12.1:1 | 99% (543) |
| 2022-23 | 552 | 42.9 | 12.9:1 | 99% (549) |
| 2020-21 | 523 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 663 | 45.3 | 14.7:1 | 97% (646) |
| 2015-16 | 670 | 34 | 19.7:1 | 87% (585) |
| 2010-11 | 648 | 37 | 17.5:1 | 76% (494) |
| 2000-01 | 540 | 32 | 16.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 283 | 15 | 18.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ben-Gil Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (663 to 523); teachers down 7% (45.3 to 42).
About Ben-Gil Elementary School
Ben-Gil Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in Gillespie, Illinois. The student body numbers 523 students, from pre-K through 5. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Illinois is about 381, so this school runs 37% bigger than that.
Gillespie CUSD 7 counts 3 schools and 1,095 students, including Ben-Gil Elementary School.
About 94% of the student body at Ben-Gil Elementary School is White. Other reported shares: 3% Black. The White share in Macoupin County as a whole is similar, at about 94%. The school's diversity index is 11%, meaning two students picked at random have an 11% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Teachers at Ben-Gil Elementary School total 42 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 12.4:1. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois. The school counts 346 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 66%. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Macoupin County is 50%.
Ben-Gil Elementary School beats its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests by 14.4 points (47.7% versus 33.3%), a top-10% result in Illinois on BeatsExpectations.
Macoupin County census figures show that the median household income is $70,805, roughly 20% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 28 public schools in Macoupin County, enrolling about 7,221 students in all.
The closest other public school is Gillespie High School, about 0.3 miles away. Within five miles are 2 other public schools. On proficiency, Ben-Gil Elementary School is ahead of the 44.4% nearby average, ranking 4th of 9.
Ben-Gil Elementary School falls in the Town: Distant locale category, used for schools in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 523 in 2020-21, 523 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across school safety, transportation, and start times. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Macoupin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
44,350
Census ACS
Median income
$70,805
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
28
7,221 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Gillespie CUSD 7
- Gillespie High SchoolHigh · 328 students
- Gillespie Middle SchoolMiddle · 244 students
Other schools in Gillespie
- Gillespie High SchoolHigh · 328 students
- Gillespie Middle SchoolMiddle · 244 students
Nearby schools
- Gillespie High School0.3 mi · 328
- Gillespie Middle School0.3 mi · 244
- Mt Olive High School6.3 mi · 151
- Mt Olive Elementary School6.3 mi · 328
- Staunton High School7.7 mi · 384
- Staunton Jr High School7.7 mi · 240
Frequently asked questions
About Ben-Gil Elementary SchoolHow large is Ben-Gil Elementary School?
Ben-Gil Elementary School enrolls approximately 523 students in grades PK-05.
Is Ben-Gil Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Ben-Gil Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Ben-Gil Elementary School?
Approximately 12.4:1 students per teacher at Ben-Gil Elementary School.
How diverse is Ben-Gil Elementary School?
Ben-Gil Elementary School reports a student body of 94% White, 1% Hispanic, 3% Black, 1% Two or more.
Is Ben-Gil Elementary School public or private?
Ben-Gil Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Gillespie CUSD 7.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.