1
If you could change one rule at Garden Hills Elem School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
411
Elementary
DISTRICT 418 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHAMPAIGN CUSD 4·NCES 170942000548
Garden Hills Elementary School
2001 Garden Hills Dr, Champaign, IL 61821 · (217) 351-3872 · Champaign County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL411 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
323 students
DISTRICT 56% · STATE 56%
Community
4
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 | 40 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 50 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 51 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 59 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 49 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 47 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 31 | 8% |
| Grade 7 | 33 | 8% |
This year's kindergarten class (50) is 52% larger than its 7th grade class (33).
Student demographics
58%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
14.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +4.5pp since 2023
Math
8.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +2.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 15 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 14.8% | 8.2% |
| 2023-24 | 10.3% | 6.0% |
% 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
11.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 11% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 26% 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 Garden Hills Elementary School
Garden Hills Elementary School's state test result (11.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Hills Elementary School this school | 411 | 78.6% | 11.1% |
| Gale Elementary Community Academy Chicago | 345 | 82.6% | 9.0% |
| Stratton Elementary School Champaign | 454 | 75.6% | 17.9% |
| Proegler School Kankakee | 466 | 84.3% | N/A |
| Parrish Elementary School Carbondale | 466 | 79.4% | N/A |
| Brennemann Elementary School Chicago | 482 | 83.2% | 20.6% |
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 Garden Hills Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Champaign County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 11.1% | #1,858 of 1,925 | #26 of 29 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 8.2% | #1,961 of 2,077 ▼ 149 | #26 of 30 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 14.8% | #2,015 of 2,077 ▼ 100 | #25 of 30 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 411 | #949 of 2,419 | #14 of 37 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,743 of 2,035 | #26 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 58.4% | #642 of 2,042 | #19 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.6% | #546 of 2,132 | #8 of 32 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.1% | #1,024 of 1,461 | #9 of 19 |
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
411
+76 (+23%) vs 2020
-10% since 1990-91, when it was 457
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 | 411 | 25.5 | 16.1:1 | 79% (323) |
| 2023-24 | 359 | 27.9 | 12.9:1 | 57% (205) |
| 2022-23 | 312 | 19.5 | 16.0:1 | 82% (257) |
| 2020-21 | 335 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 447 | 41.6 | 10.8:1 | 82% (366) |
| 2015-16 | 481 | 38 | 12.7:1 | 68% (328) |
| 2010-11 | 419 | 32 | 13.1:1 | 74% (310) |
| 2000-01 | 416 | 35 | 11.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 457 | 31 | 14.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Garden Hills Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (447 to 411); teachers down 39% (41.6 to 25.5).
About Garden Hills Elementary School
Families in Champaign, Illinois, are served by Garden Hills Elementary School, a mid-sized elementary school. Federal data show 411 students enrolled in pre-K through 8 in 2024-25.
Garden Hills Elementary School is among 18 schools run by Champaign CUSD 4, which serves 10,598 students.
Black students are 58% of those enrolled at Garden Hills Elementary School. Next come 27% Hispanic, 7% White, 5% multiracial, and 4% Asian. That compares with about 14% Black among all Champaign County residents. A diversity index of 58% means there is a 58% chance two randomly chosen students at Garden Hills Elementary School are from different groups.
Garden Hills Elementary School has 25.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 16.1:1. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Illinois is 13.9:1. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 79% at Garden Hills Elementary School. The 53% average for public schools in Champaign County is 26 points lower.
Garden Hills Elementary School is 15.1 points below expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the bottom 10% in Illinois.
In Champaign County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $63,683, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. There are 66 public schools in the county, enrolling about 25,919, Garden Hills Elementary School among them.
Franklin Middle School, about 1.3 miles away, is the closest public school. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. By average proficiency, Garden Hills Elementary School is 8th among 8 schools close by.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Small: inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 411, up from 335 in 2020-21.
Garden Hills Elementary School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Champaign County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
208,741
Census ACS
Median income
$63,683
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
66
25,919 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Champaign CUSD 4
- Central High SchoolHigh · 1,666 students
- Centennial High SchoolHigh · 1,476 students
- Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 711 students
- International Prep AcademyElementary · 681 students
- Franklin Middle SchoolMiddle · 665 students
- Edison Middle SchoolMiddle · 647 students
Other schools in Champaign
- Central High SchoolHigh · 1,666 students
- Centennial High SchoolHigh · 1,476 students
- Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 711 students
- International Prep AcademyElementary · 681 students
- Franklin Middle SchoolMiddle · 665 students
- Edison Middle SchoolMiddle · 647 students
Other Garden Hills Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Garden Hills Elementary. Garden Hills Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Garden Hills Elementary SchoolAtlanta, GA · 494 students
Nearby schools
- Franklin Middle School1.3 mi · 665
- Dr Howard Elementary School1.4 mi · 426
- Stratton Elementary School1.7 mi · 454
- Central High School1.7 mi · 1,666
- Champaign Early Chldhd Cntr1.8 mi · 288
- Westview Elementary School2.0 mi · 434
Frequently asked questions
About Garden Hills Elementary SchoolHow large is Garden Hills Elementary School?
Garden Hills Elementary School enrolls approximately 411 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Garden Hills Elementary School serve?
Garden Hills Elementary School serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Garden Hills Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Garden Hills Elementary School is approximately 16.1:1 (26 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Garden Hills Elementary School?
Student demographics at Garden Hills Elementary School are roughly 7% White, 27% Hispanic, 58% Black, 4% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Garden Hills Elementary School in?
Garden Hills Elementary School is part of Champaign CUSD 4.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.