Clifford P Carlson Elem School

Clifford P Carlson Elem School operates as a mid-tier elementary-level community in Rockford, Illinois, one of the schools within Rockford SD 205. Current enrollment sits at 390 students spanning grades K through 5.

Clifford P Carlson Elem School is one of 44 schools operated by Rockford SD 205, a district that enrolls 28,467 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Clifford P Carlson Elem School lists that the largest single group is Hispanic at 36%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school records 28% White, 23% Black, 11% multiracial. By comparison, Winnebago County as a whole is about 16% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 17.9:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. About 75% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably above Winnebago County's rate of about 61%.

With demographic context factored in, Clifford P Carlson Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 28.4%, the actual is 29.7%, a residual of +1.2 points.

Around the school, Winnebago County reports that the typical household earns roughly $65,837 per year, 25% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Winnebago County runs 94 public schools (combined enrollment of about 44,103 students), of which Clifford P Carlson Elem School is one.

The closest other public school is Montessori Elementary School, roughly 1.1 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Clifford P Carlson Elem School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 33.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a city-core area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Clifford P Carlson Elem School has edged down 5%, going from 411 students in 2018 to 390 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share climbed from 16% to 36%.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.