Garden Hills Elem School

Garden Hills Elem School operates as a medium-sized elementary school in Champaign, Illinois, part of Champaign CUSD 4. Current enrollment sits at 411 students spanning grades pre-K through 8.

Within Champaign CUSD 4, which oversees 18 schools and 10,598 students, Garden Hills Elem School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Garden Hills Elem School records that Black students make up the majority at 58%. Other groups include 27% Hispanic, 7% White, 5% multiracial, 4% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 14% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Garden Hills Elem School has 26 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Garden Hills Elem School higher than the state norm the norm. Around 79% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Champaign County runs at roughly 53%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Garden Hills Elem School falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 26.1%; this one comes in at 11.1%, -15.1 points off the demographic line.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Champaign County put median household income runs about $63,683, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Garden Hills Elem School is one of 66 public schools in Champaign County (combined enrollment of about 25,919 students).

Franklin Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Garden Hills Elem School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Garden Hills Elem School at 8th of 8; the average score across the group is 34.7%.

The campus sits in a high-density setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Garden Hills Elem School has ticked down 8%, going from 447 students in 2018 to 411 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 16% to 27%. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 10.8:1 in 2018 to 16.1:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.