Empire Elem School

Empire Elem School operates as a small K-5 school in Freeport, Illinois, part of Freeport SD 145. Current enrollment sits at 295 students spanning grades pre-K through 4. Compared to the state average of about 381 students per school, that is 23% leaner than typical.

Freeport SD 145 runs 8 schools in total, collectively educating 3,703 students. Empire Elem School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Empire Elem School records that the most-represented group is White (45%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder breaks down as 26% Black, 15% Hispanic, 13% multiracial. By comparison, Stephenson County as a whole is about 80% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, Empire Elem School logs 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. An estimated 66% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Stephenson County runs at roughly 50%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Empire Elem School sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 33.1%; actual is 10.5%, a gap of -22.6 points.

In the broader community, Stephenson County reports that median household income runs about $64,043, roughly 21% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. Empire Elem School is one of 23 public schools in Stephenson County (combined enrollment of about 6,092 students).

Carl Sandburg Middle Sch is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 7 other public schools cluster around Empire Elem School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Empire Elem School at 9th of 9; the average score across the group is 27.8%.

The school occupies a town-based site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count expanded 11%: 265 students in 2018 compared to 295 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 68% to 45% across the same window.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.