Cotton Creek School

Set in Island Lake, Illinois, Cotton Creek School is a large elementary school, part of Wauconda CUSD 118. It teaches 580 students across grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 381 students per school, that is 52% larger than typical.

Within Wauconda CUSD 118, which oversees 6 schools and 4,186 students, Cotton Creek School is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Cotton Creek School logs that 57% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder breaks down as 34% Hispanic, 4% Black, 3% multiracial, 2% Asian. By comparison, McHenry County as a whole is about 80% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 48 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Roughly 36% of students at Cotton Creek School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Cotton Creek School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.5%, the actual is 51.3%, a residual of +0.8 points.

In the broader community, census data for McHenry County shows median household income runs about $104,802, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across McHenry County's 89 public schools (combined enrollment of about 50,123 students), Cotton Creek School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Matthews Middle School, around 1.4 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Cotton Creek School at 5th of 9; the average score across the group is 50.4%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 3%: 600 students in 2018 compared to 580 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 68% to 57% over that span. Class-load math has narrowed: from 15.0:1 in 2018 to 12.0:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.