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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Dwight Common School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
519
Elementary
STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DWIGHT COMMON SD 232·NCES 171284001537
Dwight Common School
801 S Columbia St, Dwight, IL 60420 · (815) 584-6221 · Livingston County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL519 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
41 FTE teachers
STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
236 students
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 | 80 | 15% |
| Kindergarten | 38 | 7% |
| Grade 1 | 63 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 46 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 41 | 8% |
| Grade 4 | 50 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 57 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 51 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 43 | 8% |
| Grade 8 | 50 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (38) is 24% smaller than its 8th grade class (50).
Student demographics
28%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
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
47.2%
IL avg 51.0% . +23.4pp since 2023
Math
26.1%
IL avg 37.9% . +12.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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 23 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 47.2% | 26.1% |
| 2023-24 | 23.8% | 13.3% |
% 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
37.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Dwight Common School
Dwight Common School's state test result (37.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight Common School this school | 519 | 45.5% | 37.3% |
| Central Grade School Effingham | 547 | 47.3% | 46.2% |
| GCMS Elementary School Gibson City | 489 | 50.1% | 49.3% |
| Eastland Elementary School Shannon | 433 | 47.3% | 64.1% |
| Clara Peterson Elementary School Paxton | 564 | 39.9% | 38.0% |
| Red Bud Elementary School Red Bud | 582 | 49.0% | 47.4% |
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 Dwight Common School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Livingston County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.3% | #1,007 of 1,925 | #5 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 26.1% | #1,417 of 2,077 ▲ 61 | #7 of 9 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 47.2% | #1,099 of 2,077 ▲ 322 | #5 of 9 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 519 | #475 of 2,419 | #1 of 12 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.7:1 | #800 of 2,035 | #5 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 28.4% | #1,433 of 2,042 | #5 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.5% | #1,420 of 2,132 | #7 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.2% | #1,238 of 1,461 | #4 of 7 |
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
519
+66 (+15%) vs 2020
-21% since 1990-91, when it was 653
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 | 519 | 40.8 | 12.7:1 | 45% (236) |
| 2023-24 | 539 | 39 | 13.8:1 | 48% (258) |
| 2022-23 | 545 | 37.4 | 14.6:1 | 44% (240) |
| 2020-21 | 453 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 542 | 31.4 | 17.3:1 | 37% (202) |
| 2015-16 | 552 | 35 | 15.8:1 | 39% (213) |
| 2010-11 | 601 | 38 | 15.8:1 | 27% (164) |
| 2000-01 | 729 | 48 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 653 | 40 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dwight Common School.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (542 to 519); teachers up 30% (31.4 to 40.8).
About Dwight Common School
Dwight, Illinois, is home to Dwight Common School, a mid-sized elementary school. Enrollment stands at 519 students, covering pre-K through 8. The school is 36% bigger than the average for elementary schools in Illinois.
Federal records list Dwight Common SD 232 as the district for Dwight Common School.
White students account for 84% of the school's enrollment. After that, the student body is 11% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 28%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 12.7:1. The school has 40.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Illinois is 13.9:1. In all, 45% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in Livingston County is close, at 48%.
Test results at Dwight Common School are 8.0 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (37.3% actual, 45.3% predicted).
In the surrounding county, Livingston County, median household income comes to about $73,790, about 19% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 8%. The county's public schools total 24, with about 5,273 students.
Measured in a straight line, Dwight High School is about 0.3 miles from Dwight Common School. Within ten miles are 4 other public schools. Of 9 schools in the immediate area with test results, Dwight Common School ranks 8th on average proficiency.
Federal records code the school's setting as Rural: Distant.
By 2024-25, enrollment had risen to 519, from 453 in 2020-21.
People who know Dwight Common School can post here about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Livingston County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,565
Census ACS
Median income
$73,790
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
5,273 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Nearby schools
- Dwight High School0.3 mi · 211
- Odell Grade School7.3 mi · 155
- Gardner-South Wilmington Twp High School9.7 mi · 154
- Gardner Elementary School10.0 mi · 146
- South Wilmington Grade School10.1 mi · 73
- Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Elementary School10.7 mi · 172
Frequently asked questions
About Dwight Common SchoolHow large is Dwight Common School?
Dwight Common School enrolls approximately 519 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Dwight Common School serve?
Dwight Common School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Dwight Common School?
Approximately 12.7:1 students per teacher at Dwight Common School.
How diverse is Dwight Common School?
Dwight Common School reports a student body of 84% White, 11% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Dwight Common School?
Dwight Common School is overseen by Dwight Common SD 232 in Livingston County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.