Dongola Elementary School

Dongola Elementary School, a rural-scale elementary school in Dongola, Illinois, part of Dongola USD 66, instructs 108 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 72% smaller than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Dongola USD 66 comprises 3 schools with combined enrollment of 221 students; Dongola Elementary School is among them.

Looking at the student body, Dongola Elementary School lists that nearly all students (93%) are White. The remainder comes out to 4% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Union County as a whole.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Dongola Elementary School records 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.5:1. The state averages about 13.9:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Union County runs at roughly 63%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Dongola Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 13.8%, the actual is 23.0%, a residual of +9.3 points.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Union County indicate median household earnings sit near $55,728, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Dongola Elementary School is one of 18 public schools in Union County (combined enrollment of about 2,478 students).

The closest other public school is Dongola High School, roughly 0.0 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around Dongola Elementary School. On composite proficiency, Dongola Elementary School comes 8th of 8 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 33.4%.

The school occupies a rural site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Dongola Elementary School has declined 22%, going from 139 students in 2018 to 108 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 15.4:1 in 2018 to 13.5:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.