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What advice would you give to incoming students at Founders Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
565
Elementary
DISTRICT 355 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DEKALB CUSD 428·NCES 171200006172
Founders Elementary School
821 S 7th St, Dekalb, IL 60115 · (815) 754-3800 · DeKalb County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL565 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.6:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
78%
441 students
DISTRICT 69% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 91 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 97 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 95 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 99 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 87 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 96 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (91) is 5% smaller than its 5th grade class (96).
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
23.7%
IL avg 51.0% . +10.3pp since 2023
Math
19.9%
IL avg 37.9% . +9.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 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 10 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 23.7% | 19.9% |
| 2023-24 | 13.4% | 10.9% |
% 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
19.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.4%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 20% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% 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 Founders Elementary School
Founders Elementary School's state test result (19.8% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founders Elementary School this school | 565 | 78.1% | 19.8% |
| Gard Elementary School Beardstown | 711 | 77.1% | 12.3% |
| Wm Nashold Early Childhood Center Rockford | 530 | 76.8% | N/A |
| Gregory Elementary School Rockford | 418 | 76.8% | 19.0% |
| Swan Hillman Elementary School Rockford | 581 | 74.5% | 27.3% |
| Johns Hill Magnet School Decatur | 627 | 79.7% | 17.0% |
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 Founders Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In DeKalb County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 19.8% | #1,613 of 1,925 | #19 of 22 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.9% | #1,608 of 2,077 ▼ 32 | #18 of 22 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.7% | #1,845 of 2,077 ▼ 25 | #19 of 22 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 565 | #347 of 2,419 | #1 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.6:1 | #1,428 of 2,035 | #15 of 23 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.1% | #222 of 2,042 | #4 of 23 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.1% | #555 of 2,132 | #3 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.6% | #1,276 of 1,461 | #11 of 13 |
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
565
+1 (+0%) vs 2020
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 | 565 | 38.8 | 14.6:1 | 78% (441) |
| 2023-24 | 543 | 35.8 | 15.2:1 | 76% (414) |
| 2022-23 | 556 | 39.2 | 14.2:1 | 74% (411) |
| 2020-21 | 564 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 586 | 37.6 | 15.6:1 | 77% (454) |
| 2015-16 | 562 | 31 | 18.1:1 | 63% (354) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Founders Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (586 to 565); teachers up 3% (37.6 to 38.8).
About Founders Elementary School
Founders Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school that serves part of Dekalb, Illinois. The school serves kindergarten through 5. Enrollment is 565 students. That is 48% bigger than the average of about 381 students for elementary schools in Illinois.
DeKalb CUSD 428 has a total of 12 schools and 6,771 students, Founders Elementary School among them.
The student body at Founders Elementary School has no majority group. Hispanic students lead at 44%. Other groups make up 30% Black, 18% White, and 8% multiracial. DeKalb County as a whole is about 15% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 68, compared with 70 nationally.
Founders Elementary School reported 38.8 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 14.6:1. That is in line with the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois. There are 441 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 78% of enrollment. The 48% average for public schools in DeKalb County is 30 points lower.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Founders Elementary School would score about 26.4%. It scores 19.8%, 6.6 points below that figure.
In DeKalb County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $70,724, about 33% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. There are 43 public schools in the county, enrolling about 16,328, Founders Elementary School among them.
Lincoln Elementary School is about 0.4 miles from Founders Elementary School, the shortest distance to any other public school. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 24.3%, higher than Founders Elementary School's 19.8%.
Founders Elementary School is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000, a location NCES labels Suburb: Small.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 565, close to the 564 recorded in 2020-21.
Founders Elementary School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as special education services, counseling, and support programs. You can also rate the school on this page.
DeKalb County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
100,703
Census ACS
Median income
$70,724
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
43
16,328 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DeKalb CUSD 428
- DeKalb High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Huntley Middle SchoolMiddle · 865 students
- Clinton Rosette Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
- Cortland Elementary SchoolElementary · 523 students
- Littlejohn Elementary SchoolElementary · 362 students
- Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary SchoolElementary · 328 students
Other schools in Dekalb
- DeKalb High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Huntley Middle SchoolMiddle · 865 students
- Clinton Rosette Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
- Littlejohn Elementary SchoolElementary · 362 students
- Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary SchoolElementary · 328 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolElementary · 308 students
Nearby schools
- Lincoln Elementary School0.4 mi · 272
- Huntley Middle School0.7 mi · 865
- DeKalb Early Lrng and Dev Center0.7 mi · 281
- Tyler Elementary School0.8 mi · 265
- Clinton Rosette Middle School1.1 mi · 575
- Littlejohn Elementary School1.4 mi · 362
Frequently asked questions
About Founders Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Founders Elementary School?
Founders Elementary School enrolls approximately 565 students in grades KG-05.
Is Founders Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Founders Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at Founders Elementary School?
Approximately 14.6:1 students per teacher at Founders Elementary School.
How diverse is Founders Elementary School?
Founders Elementary School reports a student body of 18% White, 44% Hispanic, 30% Black, 0% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Founders Elementary School?
Founders Elementary School is overseen by DeKalb CUSD 428 in DeKalb County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.