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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Cotton Creek School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
580
Elementary
DISTRICT 592 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUCONDA CUSD 118·NCES 174119001454
Cotton Creek School
545 Newport Ct, Island Lake, IL 60042 · (847) 526-4700 · McHenry County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL580 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 58% of Illinois public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats 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
12.0:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.1:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
211 students
DISTRICT 35% · 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 | 58 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 94 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 83 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 97 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 110 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (72) is 35% smaller than its 5th grade class (110).
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · 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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
61.1%
IL avg 51.0% . +25.6pp since 2023
Math
50.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +14.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 26 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 15 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 61.1% | 50.7% |
| 2023-24 | 35.5% | 36.0% |
% 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
51.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.5%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 51% 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 Cotton Creek School
Cotton Creek School's state test result (51.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton Creek School this school | 580 | 36.4% | 51.3% |
| Big Hollow Elementary School Ingleside | 522 | 35.2% | 38.5% |
| River View Elementary School Plainfield | 584 | 37.7% | 50.0% |
| Hillcrest Elementary School Antioch | 614 | 34.2% | 43.2% |
| Riverwood Elementary School McHenry | 619 | 41.4% | 44.2% |
| Central Elementary School Plainfield | 544 | 36.8% | 57.6% |
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 Cotton Creek School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In McHenry County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 51.3% | #553 of 1,925 | #24 of 44 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.7% | #652 of 2,077 ▼ 20 | #18 of 44 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.1% | #647 of 2,077 ▲ 310 | #19 of 44 ▲ 13 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 580 | #311 of 2,419 | #10 of 51 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #560 of 2,035 | #13 of 49 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 56.2% | #707 of 2,042 | #10 of 49 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.4% | #1,638 of 2,132 | #25 of 49 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.3% | #1,297 of 1,461 | #23 of 31 |
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
580
+2 (+0%) vs 2020
-26% since 2000-01, when it was 779
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 | 580 | 48.2 | 12.0:1 | 36% (211) |
| 2023-24 | 598 | 44.5 | 13.4:1 | 40% (238) |
| 2022-23 | 576 | 38.7 | 14.9:1 | 38% (216) |
| 2020-21 | 578 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 600 | 40.1 | 15.0:1 | 32% (194) |
| 2015-16 | 678 | 39 | 17.4:1 | 28% (188) |
| 2010-11 | 643 | 40 | 16.1:1 | 26% (166) |
| 2000-01 | 779 | 40 | 19.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cotton Creek School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (600 to 580); teachers up 20% (40.1 to 48.2).
About Cotton Creek School
In Island Lake, Illinois, part of McHenry County, Cotton Creek School is an elementary school. The school enrolls 580 students in pre-K through 5. On average, elementary schools in Illinois enroll around 381, and this school is 52% bigger than that mark.
District-wide, Wauconda CUSD 118 has 6 schools and 4,186 students.
More than half of the students at Cotton Creek School are White (57%). The remaining shares are 34% Hispanic, 4% Black, 3% multiracial, and 2% Asian. Census estimates put the White share of McHenry County's population at about 80%. The diversity index for Cotton Creek School is 56%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
A staff of 48.2 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 12.0:1. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 1.9 students per teacher. By family income, 36% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in McHenry County is close, at 35%.
Cotton Creek School earns a B on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 58% of Illinois public elementary schools.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Cotton Creek School is 50.5%, and its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 51.3%.
Looking at the county, McHenry County, the median household earns about $104,802 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 35%, and about 4% of people live in poverty. Counting Cotton Creek School, McHenry County has 89 public schools.
About 1.4 miles separate Cotton Creek School from the closest public school, Matthews Middle School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Cotton Creek School is 5th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 578 to 580.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Cotton Creek School. Members of the school community can share what they know.
McHenry County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
312,591
Census ACS
Median income
$104,802
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
89
50,123 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wauconda CUSD 118
- Wauconda High SchoolHigh · 1,452 students
- Robert Crown SchoolElementary · 776 students
- Wauconda Middle SchoolMiddle · 506 students
- Matthews Middle SchoolMiddle · 451 students
- Wauconda Grade SchoolElementary · 421 students
Nearby schools
- Matthews Middle School1.4 mi · 451
- Robert Crown School2.6 mi · 776
- Prairie Grove Elementary School3.1 mi · 552
- Prairie Grove Junior High School3.1 mi · 357
- Wauconda High School3.2 mi · 1,452
- Wauconda Middle School3.3 mi · 506
Frequently asked questions
About Cotton Creek SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Cotton Creek School?
Cotton Creek School enrolls approximately 580 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Cotton Creek School serve?
Cotton Creek School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cotton Creek School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Cotton Creek School is approximately 12.0:1 (48 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cotton Creek School?
At Cotton Creek School, the student body is approximately 57% White, 34% Hispanic, 4% Black, 2% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Cotton Creek School?
Cotton Creek School is overseen by Wauconda CUSD 118 in McHenry County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.