North Ward Elementary School

As a reasonably sized elementary school in Tuscola, Illinois, North Ward Elementary School teaches 334 students from grades pre-K through 4, run under Tuscola CUSD 301.

Within Tuscola CUSD 301, which oversees 3 schools and 904 students, North Ward Elementary School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, North Ward Elementary School records that nearly all students (87%) are White. The remainder consists of 8% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting North Ward Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 44% of students at North Ward Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

After controlling for student poverty, North Ward Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 45.9%, the actual is 36.5%, a residual of -9.4 points.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Douglas County) records that median household income runs about $77,320, roughly 21% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. North Ward Elementary School is one of 10 public schools in Douglas County (combined enrollment of about 2,780 students).

East Prairie Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.9 miles from this campus. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts North Ward Elementary School at 6th of 9; the average score across the group is 41.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-based area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 8%: 363 students in 2018 compared to 334 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 93% to 87%.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.