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If you had an hour of school board time for Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
589
Elementary
DISTRICT 519 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·INDIAN PRAIRIE CUSD 204·NCES 174169002094
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary
1212 Sanctuary Ln, Naperville, IL 60540 · (630) 428-6100 · DuPage County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL589 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 54% of Illinois public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
25%
146 students
DISTRICT 19% · 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 | 94 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 94 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 87 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 109 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 105 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 100 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (94) is 6% smaller than its 5th grade class (100).
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
58.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +14.0pp since 2023
Math
53.4%
IL avg 37.9% . +14.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 53 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 14 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 15 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 58.0% | 53.4% |
| 2023-24 | 44.0% | 38.6% |
% 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
53.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
57.2%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 54% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 57% 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 Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary's state test result (53.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary this school | 589 | 24.8% | 53.9% |
| Arlene Welch Elementary School Naperville | 576 | 29.0% | 61.0% |
| Reba O Steck Elementary School Aurora | 669 | 14.3% | 67.2% |
| Ivy Hill Elementary School Arlington Heights | 593 | 24.1% | 72.0% |
| Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary Aurora | 683 | 17.9% | 69.5% |
| Glen Grove Elementary School Glenview | 398 | 30.2% | 75.5% |
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 Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In DuPage County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 53.9% | #474 of 1,925 | #65 of 112 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.4% | #574 of 2,077 ▼ 7 | #92 of 141 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.0% | #743 of 2,077 ▼ 72 | #96 of 141 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 589 | #292 of 2,419 | #13 of 163 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #1,421 of 2,035 | #107 of 146 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.7% | #62 of 2,042 | #6 of 146 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 24.8% | #1,869 of 2,132 | #85 of 123 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.6% | #783 of 1,461 | #46 of 92 |
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
589
-85 (-13%) vs 2020
-19% since 2000-01, when it was 731
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 | 589 | 40.5 | 14.5:1 | 25% (146) |
| 2023-24 | 564 | 43.6 | 12.9:1 | 29% (161) |
| 2022-23 | 548 | 43.8 | 12.5:1 | 31% (169) |
| 2020-21 | 674 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 674 | 43.2 | 15.6:1 | 27% (181) |
| 2015-16 | 637 | 40 | 15.9:1 | 30% (190) |
| 2010-11 | 731 | 45 | 16.2:1 | 23% (169) |
| 2000-01 | 731 | 41 | 17.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (674 to 589); teachers down 6% (43.2 to 40.5).
About Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary is a high-enrollment elementary school based in Naperville, Illinois. Grades offered run from kindergarten through 5, with 589 students enrolled. For comparison, elementary schools in Illinois average about 381 students.
Across its 32 schools, Indian Prairie CUSD 204 enrolls 26,108 students. Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary is one of those schools.
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary's enrollment has no majority group, and Asian students are the largest at 41%. The school is also 24% White, 18% Hispanic, 13% Black, and 4% multiracial. The Asian share of the county population is lower, at 13%. Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary has a diversity index of 73%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary operates with 40.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 14.5:1. Elementary schools in Illinois average about 13.9:1, a similar figure. Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary reports 25% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The 34% average for public schools in DuPage County is 9 points higher.
The allk12 Grade for Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary is B-. Compared with Illinois public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 54% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary sits between the top and bottom 10% of Illinois schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 53.9% and a predicted 57.2%.
According to the American Community Survey, in DuPage County, median household income is about $112,096, 52% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 277 public schools operate in DuPage County, serving about 138,557 students.
Of nearby public schools, May Watts Elementary School is the closest, at about 0.9 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary comes in 8th of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary falls in the City: Mid-size locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary had 674 students in 2020-21 and 589 in 2024-25, a 13% decrease.
Questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
DuPage County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
930,024
Census ACS
Median income
$112,096
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
52%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
277
138,557 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Indian Prairie CUSD 204
- Neuqua Valley High SchoolHigh · 3,018 students
- Waubonsie Valley High SchoolHigh · 2,849 students
- Metea Valley High SchoolHigh · 2,766 students
- Francis Granger Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,011 students
- Scullen Middle SchoolMiddle · 948 students
- Clifford Crone Middle SchoolMiddle · 891 students
Other schools in Naperville
- Neuqua Valley High SchoolHigh · 3,018 students
- Naperville Central High SchoolHigh · 2,589 students
- Naperville North High SchoolHigh · 2,467 students
- Scullen Middle SchoolMiddle · 948 students
- Clifford Crone Middle SchoolMiddle · 891 students
- Jefferson Jr High SchoolMiddle · 832 students
Nearby schools
- May Watts Elementary School0.9 mi · 668
- Still Middle School1.6 mi · 709
- Prairie Children Preschool1.6 mi · 643
- Naperville Central High School2.3 mi · 2,589
- Owen Elementary School2.3 mi · 577
- Arlene Welch Elementary School2.3 mi · 576
Frequently asked questions
About Mary Lou Cowlishaw ElementaryHow many students attend Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary?
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary enrolls approximately 589 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary serve?
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary is approximately 14.5:1 (41 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary?
At Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary, the student body is approximately 24% White, 18% Hispanic, 13% Black, 41% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary?
Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary is overseen by Indian Prairie CUSD 204 in DuPage County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.