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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Montessori Academy for Peace this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
586
Elementary
DISTRICT 455 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DECATUR SD 61·NCES 171185001398
Montessori Academy for Peace
4735 E Cantrell St, Decatur, IL 62521 · (217) 362-3390 · Macon County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL586 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 12% of Illinois public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
14.7:1
40 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.3:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
310 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 89 | 15% |
| Kindergarten | 53 | 9% |
| Grade 1 | 57 | 10% |
| Grade 2 | 57 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 9% |
| Grade 4 | 56 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 66 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 47 | 8% |
| Grade 7 | 54 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 53 | 9% |
This year's kindergarten class (53) is about the same size as its 8th grade class (53).
Student demographics
65%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
35.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +14.1pp since 2023
Math
14.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 36 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 15 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 7 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 35.8% | 14.6% |
| 2023-24 | 21.7% | 8.0% |
% 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
26.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.0%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% 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 Montessori Academy for Peace
Montessori Academy for Peace's state test result (26.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montessori Academy for Peace this school | 586 | 52.9% | 26.5% |
| North Elementary School Godfrey | 549 | 51.4% | 29.1% |
| West Elementary School Alton | 407 | 57.0% | 25.0% |
| Prather Elementary School Granite City | 612 | 60.5% | N/A |
| Kellar Primary School Peoria | 365 | 53.2% | 52.6% |
| Lindsay School Springfield | 438 | 48.4% | 37.8% |
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 Montessori Academy for Peace ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Macon County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 26.5% | #1,400 of 1,925 | #6 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 14.6% | #1,748 of 2,077 ▼ 23 | #6 of 16 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 35.8% | #1,488 of 2,077 ▲ 23 | #6 of 16 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 586 | #297 of 2,419 | #3 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #1,458 of 2,035 | #3 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.6% | #387 of 2,042 | #5 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.9% | #1,219 of 2,132 | #14 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +64.1% | #21 of 615 | #2 of 10 |
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
586
-47 (-7%) vs 2020
+45% since 1990-91, when it was 403
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 | 586 | 40 | 14.7:1 | 53% (310) |
| 2023-24 | 639 | 39 | 16.4:1 | 43% (272) |
| 2022-23 | 697 | 39.9 | 17.5:1 | 52% (359) |
| 2020-21 | 633 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 357 | 21 | 17.0:1 | 38% (134) |
| 2015-16 | 382 | 18 | 21.2:1 | 47% (178) |
| 2010-11 | 371 | 13 | 28.5:1 | 41% (152) |
| 2000-01 | 333 | 15 | 22.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 403 | 20 | 20.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Montessori Academy for Peace.
Since 2017-18: students up 64% (357 to 586); teachers up 90% (21 to 40).
About Montessori Academy for Peace
Montessori Academy for Peace is an elementary school with a street address in Decatur, Illinois. The school's 586 students are in pre-K through 8. Enrollment is 54% higher than the average for elementary schools in Illinois, which is about 381.
Montessori Academy for Peace is part of a district of 15 schools: Decatur SD 61, with 7,840 students.
Montessori Academy for Peace's enrollment has no majority group, and White students are the largest at 46%. Smaller groups are 32% Black and 20% multiracial. County-wide, 74% of Macon County residents are White. The chance that two students picked at random at Montessori Academy for Peace belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 65%.
The school reports 40 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 14.7 students per teacher. The 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is lower than this school's figure. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 53%. That is 8 points below the 61% average for public schools in Macon County.
Measured against Illinois public elementary schools, Montessori Academy for Peace receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Montessori Academy for Peace scores 14.5 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 26.5% actual versus 41.0% predicted. That puts it in the bottom 10% of Illinois schools on BeatsExpectations.
Macon County has about 101,849 residents, and median household income is about $62,666, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 24% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 10%. Federal data list 43 public schools in Macon County, with a combined enrollment of about 14,702.
The closest public school to Montessori Academy for Peace is Michael E Baum Elementary School, about 0.6 miles away. Within five miles of Montessori Academy for Peace, there are at least 8 other public schools. In a group of 8 nearby schools with scores, Montessori Academy for Peace ranks 1st on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Montessori Academy for Peace as City: Small, meaning inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment was 633 in 2020-21 and 586 in 2024-25, a decrease of 47 students.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Montessori Academy for Peace covering things like school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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
- Dennis Lab SchoolElementary · 579 students
- Parsons Elementary SchoolElementary · 505 students
- Hope AcademyElementary · 501 students
Other schools in Decatur
- MacArthur High SchoolHigh · 1,059 students
- Eisenhower High SchoolHigh · 909 students
- Johns Hill Magnet SchoolElementary · 627 students
- Dennis Lab SchoolElementary · 579 students
- Parsons Elementary SchoolElementary · 505 students
- Hope AcademyElementary · 501 students
Nearby schools
- Michael E Baum Elementary School0.6 mi · 313
- Muffley Elementary School1.7 mi · 386
- Eisenhower High School2.8 mi · 909
- Robertson Charter School2.9 mi · 327
- Johns Hill Magnet School3.3 mi · 627
- Hope Academy3.5 mi · 501
Frequently asked questions
About Montessori Academy for PeaceHow many students attend Montessori Academy for Peace?
Montessori Academy for Peace enrolls approximately 586 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Montessori Academy for Peace serve?
Montessori Academy for Peace serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Montessori Academy for Peace?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Montessori Academy for Peace is approximately 14.7:1 (40 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Montessori Academy for Peace?
Montessori Academy for Peace reports a student body of 46% White, 1% Hispanic, 32% Black, 1% Asian, 20% Two or more.
Is Montessori Academy for Peace public or private?
Montessori Academy for Peace 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.