Enrollment
295
Elementary
DISTRICT 319 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FREEPORT SD 145·NCES 171590001900
Empire Elementary School
1325 Empire St, Freeport, IL 61032 · (815) 232-0380 · Stephenson County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL295 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
196 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 47 | 16% |
| Kindergarten | 53 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 49 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 48 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 55 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 43 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (53) is 23% larger than its 4th grade class (43).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Freeport SD 145. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
16.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +7.0pp since 2023
Math
8.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +5.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 16 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 8 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 16.0% | 8.0% |
| 2023-24 | 9.0% | 2.7% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
10.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-22.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 11% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 33% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Empire Elementary School
Empire Elementary School's state test result (10.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empire Elementary School this school | 295 | 66.4% | 10.5% |
| Shabbona Elementary School Bourbonnais | 290 | 64.5% | 39.5% |
| Northeast Elementary Magnet School Danville | 347 | 68.6% | 38.1% |
| Center Elementary School Freeport | 262 | 61.5% | 43.8% |
| Malta Elementary School Malta | 293 | 65.9% | 21.7% |
| Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School Freeport | 325 | 65.5% | 20.5% |
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 Empire Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Stephenson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 10.5% | #1,870 of 1,925 | #9 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 8.0% | #1,965 of 2,077 ▲ 24 | #9 of 9 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 16.0% | #1,996 of 2,077 ▼ 37 | #9 of 9 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 295 | #1,562 of 2,419 | #6 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #561 of 2,035 | #2 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.0% | #193 of 2,042 | #2 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.4% | #831 of 2,132 | #1 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +11.3% | #245 of 615 | N/A |
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
295
-14 (-5%) vs 2020
-36% since 1990-91, when it was 459
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 | 295 | 24.5 | 12.0:1 | 66% (196) |
| 2023-24 | 407 | 23 | 17.7:1 | 63% (256) |
| 2022-23 | 325 | 17 | 19.1:1 | 59% (192) |
| 2020-21 | 309 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 265 | 21 | 12.6:1 | 52% (138) |
| 2015-16 | 285 | 20 | 14.3:1 | 52% (147) |
| 2010-11 | 264 | 21 | 12.6:1 | 51% (134) |
| 2000-01 | 272 | 17 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 459 | 21 | 21.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Empire Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 11% (265 to 295); teachers up 17% (21 to 24.5).
About Empire Elementary School
Among the schools in Freeport, Illinois, is Empire Elementary School, a small elementary school. Enrollment totals 295 students across pre-K through 4. The school is 23% below the average for elementary schools in Illinois.
Freeport SD 145 enrolls 3,703 students, and its 8 schools include Empire Elementary School.
White students account for 45% of enrollment at Empire Elementary School, more than any other group. The remaining students are 26% Black, 15% Hispanic, and 13% multiracial. Among people living in Stephenson County, the White share is about 80%. The diversity index for Empire Elementary School is 69%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Its staff includes 24.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 12.0 students per teacher. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 1.9 students per teacher. Roughly 66% of students at Empire Elementary School can receive free or reduced-price lunch. The 50% average for public schools in Stephenson County is 16 points lower.
BeatsExpectations places Empire Elementary School in the bottom 10% of Illinois schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 22.6 points below it (10.5% actual, 33.1% predicted).
In Stephenson County, home to about 43,768 people, median household income comes to about $64,043, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of people live in poverty. There are 23 public schools in the county, enrolling about 6,092, Empire Elementary School among them.
A public school about 0.5 miles away, Carl Sandburg Middle School, is the closest to Empire Elementary School. The count of other public schools within five miles is 7. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Empire Elementary School is 9th of 9 on proficiency.
The federal government classifies Empire Elementary School's location as Town: Distant.
A 5% drop took enrollment from 309 in 2020-21 to 295 in 2024-25.
People who know Empire Elementary School can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Stephenson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
43,768
Census ACS
Median income
$64,043
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
23
6,092 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Freeport SD 145
- Freeport High SchoolHigh · 1,165 students
- Freeport Middle SchoolMiddle · 515 students
- Carl Sandburg Middle SchoolMiddle · 430 students
- Blackhawk Elementary SchoolElementary · 361 students
- Jones-Farrar Intl BaccalaureateElementary · 350 students
- Lincoln-Douglas Elementary SchoolElementary · 325 students
Other schools in Freeport
- Freeport High SchoolHigh · 1,165 students
- Freeport Middle SchoolMiddle · 515 students
- Carl Sandburg Middle SchoolMiddle · 430 students
- Blackhawk Elementary SchoolElementary · 361 students
- Jones-Farrar Intl BaccalaureateElementary · 350 students
- Lincoln-Douglas Elementary SchoolElementary · 325 students
Other Empire Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Empire Elementary. Empire Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 4.
- Empire ElementaryCarson City, NV · 445 students
- Empire ElementaryEmpire, CA · 384 students
- Empire Elementary SchoolDuncan, OK · 244 students
Nearby schools
- Carl Sandburg Middle School0.5 mi · 430
- Freeport Middle School0.9 mi · 515
- Freeport High School0.9 mi · 1,165
- Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School1.1 mi · 325
- Blackhawk Elementary School1.2 mi · 361
- Jones-Farrar Intl Baccalaureate1.4 mi · 350
Frequently asked questions
About Empire Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Empire Elementary School?
Empire Elementary School enrolls approximately 295 students in grades PK-04.
What grades does Empire Elementary School serve?
Empire Elementary School serves grades PK-04.
How many students per teacher at Empire Elementary School?
Approximately 12.0:1 students per teacher at Empire Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Empire Elementary School?
Student demographics at Empire Elementary School are roughly 45% White, 15% Hispanic, 26% Black, 1% Asian, 13% Two or more.
What district is Empire Elementary School in?
Empire Elementary School is part of Freeport SD 145.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.