Crab Orchard Elementary School

Crab Orchard Elementary School is an elementary school of small scale in Marion, Illinois, operated by Crab Orchard CUSD 3, teacheing 323 students in grades pre-K through 8.

Within Crab Orchard CUSD 3, which oversees 2 schools and 477 students, Crab Orchard Elementary School is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Crab Orchard Elementary School records that 98% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The wider county runs roughly 89% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully more White than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Crab Orchard Elementary School higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 20% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Williamson County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Crab Orchard Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 59.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 49.2%.

Across the wider county, census data for Williamson County shows median household earnings sit near $65,604, about 26% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Williamson County's 26 public schools (combined enrollment of about 9,700 students), Crab Orchard Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Crab Orchard High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Crab Orchard Elementary School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 47.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Five-year trend. Crab Orchard Elementary School's enrollment has edged down 12% since 2018, when it stood at 365 (now 323). Class-load math has tightened: from 20.3:1 in 2018 to 14.8:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.