Michael E Baum Elem School

Michael E Baum Elem School is a small primary school in Decatur, Illinois, run under Decatur SD 61. The school teaches 313 students in grades K through 6.

Decatur SD 61 comprises 15 schools with combined enrollment of 7,840 students; Michael E Baum Elem School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Michael E Baum Elem School records that the largest single group is Black at 41%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school lists 32% White, 22% multiracial, 4% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 16% Black, putting the school's mix noticeably more Black than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Michael E Baum Elem School higher than the state norm the norm. About 87% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Macon County (around 61%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Michael E Baum Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 21.5%, the actual is 16.4%, a residual of -5.2 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Macon County shows median household earnings sit near $62,666, about 24% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. In all, Macon County runs 43 public schools (combined enrollment of about 14,702 students), of which Michael E Baum Elem School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Montessori Academy for Peace, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Michael E Baum Elem School comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 13.2%.

Michael E Baum Elem School operates from a high-density location.

Looking at the recent track record. Michael E Baum Elem School's enrollment has showed little movement since 2018, when it stood at 320 (now 313). Over the same period, the White share shrank from 58% to 32%. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 16.7:1 in 2018 to 18.4:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.