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What do you wish you knew before starting at Harriet Gifford Elem School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
460
Elementary
DISTRICT 469 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SD U-46·NCES 171371001676
Harriet Gifford Elementary School
240 S Clifton Ave, Elgin, IL 60123 · (847) 888-5195 · Kane County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL460 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
364 students
DISTRICT 56% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 61 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 58 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 66 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 59 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 69 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 53 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (61) is 15% larger than its 6th grade class (53).
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · 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
25.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +6.9pp since 2023
Math
20.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +5.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 26 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 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 | 25.9% | 20.0% |
| 2023-24 | 19.0% | 14.8% |
% 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
22.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.8%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% 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 Harriet Gifford Elementary School
Harriet Gifford Elementary School's state test result (22.4% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harriet Gifford Elementary School this school | 460 | 79.1% | 22.4% |
| De Diego Elementary Community Academy Chicago | 511 | 80.0% | 14.1% |
| Washington Elementary School Rockford | 523 | 83.0% | 13.2% |
| Carman-Buckner Elementary School Waukegan | 509 | 82.3% | 12.6% |
| Clay Elementary School Chicago | 578 | 82.4% | 23.3% |
| Glen Flora Elementary School Waukegan | 476 | 75.2% | 17.6% |
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 Harriet Gifford Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Kane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #1,528 of 1,925 | #52 of 72 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.0% | #1,605 of 2,077 ▼ 196 | #66 of 83 ▼ 12 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 25.9% | #1,782 of 2,077 ▼ 171 | #64 of 83 ▼ 12 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 460 | #711 of 2,419 | #39 of 88 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,753 of 2,035 | #63 of 87 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.3% | #1,022 of 2,042 | #34 of 87 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.1% | #529 of 2,132 | #10 of 77 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +5.3% | #418 of 615 | #24 of 32 |
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
460
+5 (+1%) vs 2020
-6% since 1990-91, when it was 487
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 | 460 | 28.5 | 16.1:1 | 79% (364) |
| 2023-24 | 437 | 26 | 16.8:1 | 69% (300) |
| 2022-23 | 461 | 25 | 18.4:1 | 73% (337) |
| 2020-21 | 455 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 437 | 23.6 | 18.5:1 | 81% (356) |
| 2015-16 | 527 | 25 | 21.1:1 | 81% (426) |
| 2010-11 | 494 | 22 | 22.4:1 | 83% (409) |
| 2000-01 | 513 | 28 | 18.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 487 | 23 | 21.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Harriet Gifford Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 5% (437 to 460); teachers up 21% (23.6 to 28.5).
About Harriet Gifford Elementary School
Harriet Gifford Elementary School operates as a mid-sized elementary school in Elgin, Illinois. The school enrolls 460 students in pre-K through 6. On average, elementary schools in Illinois enroll around 381, and this school is 21% bigger than that mark.
Harriet Gifford Elementary School is run by SD U-46, whose 51 schools enroll 34,036 students.
The student body at Harriet Gifford Elementary School is 71% Hispanic. After that, the student body is 21% Black, 5% White, and 2% multiracial. Among all residents of Kane County, the Hispanic share is about 33%. A diversity index of 45% means there is a 45% chance two randomly chosen students at Harriet Gifford Elementary School are from different groups.
Its staff includes 28.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 16.1 students per teacher. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 2.2 students per teacher. Roughly 79% of students at Harriet Gifford Elementary School can receive free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 48% average for public schools in Kane County, the school's rate is higher.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Harriet Gifford Elementary School falls in the middle 80% of Illinois schools: 22.4% actual against 25.8% predicted.
The school is in Kane County, where median household income comes to about $103,163, 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Kane County's 167 public schools enroll about 87,252 students and include Harriet Gifford Elementary School.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Larkin High School, is about 0.4 miles. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Ranked by average proficiency, Harriet Gifford Elementary School places 4th out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
In the federal locale system, Harriet Gifford Elementary School is coded City: Mid-size, for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 455 in 2020-21, 460 in 2024-25.
Harriet Gifford Elementary School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Kane County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
517,255
Census ACS
Median income
$103,163
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
38%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
167
87,252 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in SD U-46
- South Elgin High SchoolHigh · 2,665 students
- Elgin High SchoolHigh · 2,576 students
- Larkin High SchoolHigh · 2,174 students
- Bartlett High SchoolHigh · 2,037 students
- Streamwood High SchoolHigh · 1,890 students
- Kenyon Woods Middle SchoolMiddle · 873 students
Other schools in Elgin
- Elgin High SchoolHigh · 2,576 students
- Larkin High SchoolHigh · 2,174 students
- Prairie Knolls Middle SchoolMiddle · 770 students
- Country Trails Elementary SchoolElementary · 751 students
- Lords Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 655 students
- Coleman Elementary SchoolElementary · 641 students
Nearby schools
- Larkin High School0.4 mi · 2,174
- Abbott Middle School0.5 mi · 551
- Washington Elementary School0.7 mi · 446
- Highland Elementary School0.7 mi · 616
- Kimball Middle School1.1 mi · 501
- Hillcrest Elementary School1.1 mi · 509
Frequently asked questions
About Harriet Gifford Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Harriet Gifford Elementary School?
Harriet Gifford Elementary School enrolls approximately 460 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Harriet Gifford Elementary School serve?
Harriet Gifford Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Harriet Gifford Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Harriet Gifford Elementary School is approximately 16.1:1 (29 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Harriet Gifford Elementary School?
At Harriet Gifford Elementary School, the student body is approximately 5% White, 71% Hispanic, 21% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Harriet Gifford Elementary School?
Harriet Gifford Elementary School is overseen by SD U-46 in Kane County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.