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How has Hope Academy changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
501
Elementary
DISTRICT 455 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DECATUR SD 61·NCES 171185005629
Hope Academy
955 N Illinois St, Decatur, IL 62521 · (217) 362-3280 · Macon County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL501 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.3:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
470 students
DISTRICT 81% · 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 | 73 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 50 | 10% |
| Grade 2 | 67 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 57 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 43 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 49 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 59 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 59 | 12% |
| Grade 8 | 44 | 9% |
This year's kindergarten class (73) is 66% larger than its 8th grade class (44).
Student demographics
54%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · 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
3.1%
IL avg 51.0% . +2.8pp since 2023
Math
1.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +1.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 3 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 2 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 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 3.1% | 1.7% |
| 2023-24 | 0.3% | 0.3% |
% 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
3.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
17.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 3% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 17% 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 Hope Academy
Hope Academy's state test result (3.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hope Academy this school | 501 | 93.8% | 3.3% |
| Mark Denman Elementary School Danville | 545 | 95.2% | 17.0% |
| American Dreamer STEM Academy Decatur | 423 | 89.1% | 11.8% |
| Franklin Grove Elementary School Decatur | 461 | 89.8% | 5.7% |
| Rock Island Academy Rock Island | 540 | 95.7% | 11.1% |
| Dr Preston L Williams Jr Elementary School Urbana | 399 | 88.5% | 7.3% |
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 Hope Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Macon County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 3.3% | #1,924 of 1,925 | #16 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 1.7% | #2,072 of 2,077 ▼ 4 | #16 of 16 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 3.1% | #2,077 of 2,077 ▼ 1 | #16 of 16 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 501 | #553 of 2,419 | #6 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.9:1 | #1,210 of 2,035 | #2 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 53.5% | #808 of 2,042 | #10 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.8% | #191 of 2,132 | #1 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.5% | #1,283 of 1,461 | #4 of 7 |
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
501
-77 (-13%) vs 2020
+29% since 2010-11, when it was 388
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 | 501 | 36 | 13.9:1 | 94% (470) |
| 2023-24 | 498 | 26 | 19.1:1 | 81% (401) |
| 2022-23 | 563 | 28 | 20.1:1 | 88% (494) |
| 2020-21 | 578 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 519 | 32.5 | 16.0:1 | 83% (433) |
| 2015-16 | 516 | 49 | 10.5:1 | 83% (429) |
| 2010-11 | 388 | 21 | 18.5:1 | 91% (354) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hope Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (519 to 501); teachers up 11% (32.5 to 36).
About Hope Academy
Hope Academy is the name of a mid-sized elementary school in Decatur, Illinois. Its enrollment is 501 students, spread over kindergarten through 8. That compares with an average of about 381 students for elementary schools in Illinois.
Decatur SD 61 enrolls 7,840 students, and its 15 schools include Hope Academy.
Of every 100 students at Hope Academy, about 64 are Black. The school is also 20% White, 13% multiracial, and 3% Hispanic. The Black share of the county population is lower, at 16%. The diversity index for Hope Academy is 54%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
A staff of 36 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 13.9:1. The average for elementary schools in Illinois is about 13.9:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 94%. The average for public schools in Macon County is 61%.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. Hope Academy posts 3.3% against a 17.3% prediction, a bottom-10% result in Illinois.
The school's county is Macon County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $62,666 a year, roughly 24% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Macon County number 43, with about 14,702 students.
Measured in a straight line, Johns Hill Magnet School is about 1.0 miles from Hope Academy. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On proficiency, Hope Academy is behind the 12.8% nearby average, ranking 8th of 8.
Hope Academy is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000, a location NCES labels City: Small.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased 13%.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Hope Academy. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Macon County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
101,849
Census ACS
Median income
$62,666
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
43
14,702 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Decatur SD 61
- MacArthur High SchoolHigh · 1,059 students
- Eisenhower High SchoolHigh · 909 students
- Johns Hill Magnet SchoolElementary · 627 students
- Montessori Academy for PeaceElementary · 586 students
- Dennis Lab SchoolElementary · 579 students
- Parsons Elementary SchoolElementary · 505 students
Other schools in Decatur
- MacArthur High SchoolHigh · 1,059 students
- Eisenhower High SchoolHigh · 909 students
- Johns Hill Magnet SchoolElementary · 627 students
- Montessori Academy for PeaceElementary · 586 students
- Dennis Lab SchoolElementary · 579 students
- Parsons Elementary SchoolElementary · 505 students
Other Hope Academy schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Hope Academy. Hope Academy is the largest of the 4.
- Hope AcademyDETROIT, MI · 430 students
- Hope AcademyLA JOYA, TX · 78 students
- Hope AcademyPASSAIC, NJ · 59 students
Nearby schools
- Johns Hill Magnet School1.0 mi · 627
- Robertson Charter School1.1 mi · 327
- Eisenhower High School1.6 mi · 909
- MacArthur High School1.9 mi · 1,059
- Pershing Early Learning Center2.4 mi · 416
- Stephen Decatur Middle School2.4 mi · 413
Frequently asked questions
About Hope AcademyWhat is the total enrollment at Hope Academy?
Hope Academy enrolls approximately 501 students in grades KG-08.
What grades does Hope Academy serve?
Hope Academy serves grades KG-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Hope Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Hope Academy is approximately 13.9:1 (36 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Hope Academy?
Hope Academy reports a student body of 20% White, 3% Hispanic, 64% Black, 13% Two or more.
Is Hope Academy public or private?
Hope Academy is a public K-12 school, overseen by Decatur SD 61.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.