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What's something Chester Elem School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
640
Elementary
DISTRICT 488 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHESTER CUSD 139·NCES 170981000578
Chester Elementary School
650 Opdyke St, Chester, IL 62233 · (618) 826-2354 · Randolph County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL640 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 32% of Illinois public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
49 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.3:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
379 students
DISTRICT 49% · STATE 56%
Community
6
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 | 64 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 65 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 58 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 78 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 9% |
| Grade 4 | 62 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 8% |
| Grade 6 | 56 | 9% |
| Grade 7 | 74 | 12% |
| Grade 8 | 69 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (65) is 6% smaller than its 8th grade class (69).
Student demographics
36%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 32% · 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
Chester Elementary School→Chester High School
Based on grade levels within Chester CUSD 139. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
45.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +2.8pp since 2023
Math
25.1%
IL avg 37.9% . +5.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 25 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 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.0% | 25.1% |
| 2023-24 | 42.2% | 19.3% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
34.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 37% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Illinois's top nor bottom 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 Chester Elementary School
Chester Elementary School's state test result (34.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Elementary School this school | 640 | 59.2% | 34.6% |
| Marseilles Elementary School Marseilles | 528 | 57.2% | 27.8% |
| Judith Giacoma Elementary School Westville | 610 | 57.9% | 30.1% |
| Northview Elementary School Peru | 594 | 56.4% | 51.4% |
| Flora Elementary School Flora | 672 | 61.2% | 53.2% |
| Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School Quincy | 588 | 61.9% | 44.3% |
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 Chester Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Randolph County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.6% | #1,104 of 1,925 | #4 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.1% | #1,446 of 2,077 ▼ 235 | #6 of 6 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.0% | #1,183 of 2,077 ▼ 450 | #4 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 640 | #199 of 2,419 | #2 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.1:1 | #904 of 2,035 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 36.3% | #1,246 of 2,042 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 59.2% | #1,038 of 2,132 | #2 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.4% | #1,393 of 1,461 | N/A |
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
640
+33 (+5%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 691
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 | 640 | 49.1 | 13.1:1 | 59% (379) |
| 2023-24 | 637 | 47.2 | 13.5:1 | 55% (349) |
| 2022-23 | 616 | 44.7 | 13.8:1 | 61% (376) |
| 2020-21 | 607 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 649 | 40.3 | 16.1:1 | 57% (368) |
| 2015-16 | 623 | 41 | 15.2:1 | 61% (380) |
| 2010-11 | 657 | 43 | 15.3:1 | 48% (317) |
| 2000-01 | 683 | 45 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 691 | 34 | 20.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Chester Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (649 to 640); teachers up 22% (40.3 to 49.1).
About Chester Elementary School
Chester Elementary School is a public large elementary school in Chester, Illinois. Total enrollment is 640 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 8. That is 68% bigger than the average of about 381 students for elementary schools in Illinois.
Across its 2 schools, Chester CUSD 139 enrolls 975 students. Chester Elementary School is one of those schools.
At Chester Elementary School, 77% of students are White. The remaining students are 18% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. Census figures show Randolph County is about 86% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Chester Elementary School scores 36%.
Chester Elementary School reports a ratio of 13.1 students per teacher, from 49.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 0.9 students per teacher. Student poverty is often measured by lunch eligibility; at Chester Elementary School, 59% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Among Illinois public elementary schools, Chester Elementary School outscored 32%, which works out to a C on the allk12 Grade.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 34.6%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 37.3%.
For Randolph County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $68,131, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 15%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. There are 16 public schools in the county, enrolling about 3,876, Chester Elementary School among them.
Chester Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Chester High School, about 1.0 miles away. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Chester Elementary School is 5th of 8 on proficiency.
The NCES locale for Chester Elementary School is Town: Remote, which covers schools in a town far from an urbanized area.
A 5% rise took enrollment from 607 in 2020-21 to 640 in 2024-25.
People can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Randolph County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
30,058
Census ACS
Median income
$68,131
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
15%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
16
3,876 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Chester
- Chester High SchoolHigh · 335 students
- Okaw Regional Voc SystemHigh
Other Chester Elementary schools
7 other US public schools in 8 states are named Chester Elementary. Chester Elementary School is the largest of the 8.
- Chester Elementary SchoolSpokane Valley, WA · 410 students
- CHESTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCHESTER, NY · 393 students
- Chester Elementary SchoolChester, CT · 198 students
- Chester ElementaryChester, CA · 171 students
- Chester Elementary -02Chester, SD · 154 students
Nearby schools
- Chester High School1.0 mi · 335
- Steeleville High School10.8 mi · 148
- Steeleville Elementary School11.0 mi · 323
- PERRYVILLE SR. HIGH13.1 mi · 743
- PERRY CO. MIDDLE13.1 mi · 439
- PERRYVILLE PRIMARY CENTER13.1 mi · 492
Frequently asked questions
About Chester Elementary SchoolHow large is Chester Elementary School?
Chester Elementary School enrolls approximately 640 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Chester Elementary School serve?
Chester Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Chester Elementary School?
Approximately 13.1:1 students per teacher at Chester Elementary School.
How diverse is Chester Elementary School?
Chester Elementary School reports a student body of 77% White, 18% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Chester Elementary School?
Chester Elementary School is overseen by Chester CUSD 139 in Randolph County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.