Enrollment
337
Elementary
DISTRICT 457 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AURORA WEST USD 129·NCES 170471000157
Nicholson Elementary School
649 N Main St, Montgomery, IL 60538 · (630) 301-5013 · Kane County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL337 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.1:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
198 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 49 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 61 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 75 | 22% |
| Grade 5 | 38 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (49) is 29% larger than its 5th grade class (38).
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
32.5%
IL avg 51.0% . +16.1pp since 2023
Math
30.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +18.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 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 16 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 19 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 32.5% | 30.7% |
| 2023-24 | 16.4% | 12.2% |
% 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
29.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.6%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% 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 Nicholson Elementary School
Nicholson Elementary School's state test result (29.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholson Elementary School this school | 337 | 58.8% | 29.1% |
| Greenwood Elementary School Waukegan | 318 | 61.3% | 28.2% |
| Indian Knoll Elementary School West Chicago | 375 | 60.0% | 29.7% |
| Benavides Steam Academy Aurora | 326 | 59.2% | N/A |
| H R McCall Elementary School Waukegan | 396 | 61.1% | 35.6% |
| Washington Dual Language Academy Maywood | 346 | 59.2% | 44.5% |
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 Nicholson Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Kane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.1% | #1,297 of 1,925 | #40 of 72 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.7% | #1,255 of 2,077 ▲ 264 | #49 of 83 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.5% | #1,596 of 2,077 ▲ 93 | #57 of 83 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 337 | #1,329 of 2,419 | #74 of 88 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.0:1 | #1,721 of 2,035 | #60 of 87 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 42.4% | #1,095 of 2,042 | #41 of 87 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 58.8% | #1,050 of 2,132 | #34 of 77 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.4% | #322 of 615 | #21 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
337
+29 (+9%) vs 2020
-4% since 1990-91, when it was 351
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 | 337 | 21.1 | 16.0:1 | 59% (198) |
| 2023-24 | 330 | 26.5 | 12.4:1 | 55% (183) |
| 2022-23 | 309 | 26 | 11.9:1 | 51% (158) |
| 2020-21 | 308 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 311 | 23.7 | 13.1:1 | 52% (162) |
| 2015-16 | 322 | 20 | 16.1:1 | 89% (286) |
| 2010-11 | 371 | 20 | 18.6:1 | 76% (281) |
| 2000-01 | 331 | 19 | 17.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 351 | 18 | 19.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Nicholson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 8% (311 to 337); teachers down 11% (23.7 to 21.1).
About Nicholson Elementary School
Nicholson Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in Illinois, with an address in Montgomery. Students in kindergarten through 5 attend, and enrollment is 337 students.
Aurora West USD 129 is responsible for 16 schools, Nicholson Elementary School included, with 11,020 students in all.
Nicholson Elementary School's enrollment is 74% Hispanic. Other groups make up 12% White, 10% Black, and 3% multiracial. County-wide, 33% of Kane County residents are Hispanic. Nicholson Elementary School has a diversity index of 42%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Staffing totals 21.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 16.0:1. That ratio is over the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Nicholson Elementary School is 59%. The average for public schools in Kane County is 48%.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 37.6% for Nicholson Elementary School. The school posts 29.1%, 8.4 points below the prediction.
Census estimates describe Kane County this way: median household income is about $103,163, 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. The public schools of Kane County number 167 and enroll about 87,252.
Nearby, Rose E Krug Elementary School is about 0.8 miles away. Nicholson Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Local comparison: Nicholson Elementary School ranks 4th of 9 nearby schools, at 29.1% versus a 26.0% average.
NCES lists the school's locale as Suburb: Large. That means it sits in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Nicholson Elementary School saw enrollment rise 9% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Discussions about Nicholson Elementary School may include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome 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 Aurora West USD 129
- West Aurora High SchoolHigh · 3,641 students
- Washington Middle SchoolMiddle · 690 students
- Herget Middle SchoolMiddle · 594 students
- Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 577 students
- Freeman Elementary SchoolElementary · 529 students
- Greenman Elementary SchoolElementary · 528 students
Other schools in Montgomery
- Lakewood Creek ElementaryElementary · 767 students
- Long Beach Elementary SchoolElementary · 632 students
- Boulder Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 476 students
- Kaneland McDole Elementary SchoolElementary · 440 students
Other Nicholson Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Nicholson Elementary. Nicholson Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 3.
- Nicholson Elementary SchoolMarietta, GA · 413 students
- Nicholson ElementaryPicayune, MS · 324 students
Nearby schools
- Rose E Krug Elementary School0.8 mi · 271
- C M Bardwell Elementary School1.3 mi · 679
- G N Dieterich Elementary School1.4 mi · 507
- Long Beach Elementary School1.6 mi · 632
- Boulder Hill Elementary School1.7 mi · 476
- Freeman Elementary School1.8 mi · 529
Frequently asked questions
About Nicholson Elementary SchoolHow large is Nicholson Elementary School?
Nicholson Elementary School enrolls approximately 337 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Nicholson Elementary School serve?
Nicholson Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Nicholson Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Nicholson Elementary School is approximately 16.0:1 (21 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Nicholson Elementary School?
Student demographics at Nicholson Elementary School are roughly 12% White, 74% Hispanic, 10% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Nicholson Elementary School?
Nicholson Elementary School is overseen by Aurora West USD 129 in Kane County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.