Enrollment
287
Elementary
DISTRICT 354 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MCLEAN COUNTY USD 5·NCES 172862000765
Pepper Ridge Elementary School
2602 Danbury Dr, Bloomington, IL 61705 · (309) 557-4423 · McLean County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL287 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.9:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
151 students
DISTRICT 40% · 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 | 40 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 46 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 50 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 52 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 55 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 44 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (40) is 9% smaller than its 5th grade class (44).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · 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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
53.7%
IL avg 51.0% . +11.1pp since 2023
Math
40.4%
IL avg 37.9% . +5.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 40 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 53.7% | 40.4% |
| 2023-24 | 42.6% | 34.6% |
% 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
44.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% 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 Pepper Ridge Elementary School
Pepper Ridge Elementary School's state test result (44.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pepper Ridge Elementary School this school | 287 | 52.6% | 44.2% |
| Olson Park Elementary School Machesney Park | 294 | 54.8% | 52.9% |
| Parkside Elementary School Normal | 322 | 53.1% | 32.2% |
| Wethersfield Elementary School Kewanee | 296 | 48.6% | 49.1% |
| Lincoln Elementary School Oglesby | 328 | 50.0% | 34.6% |
| Colona Grade School Colona | 371 | 52.6% | 32.0% |
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 Pepper Ridge Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In McLean County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.2% | #770 of 1,925 | #15 of 29 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 40.4% | #954 of 2,077 ▼ 289 | #15 of 29 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.7% | #877 of 2,077 ▼ 161 | #15 of 29 ▼ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 287 | #1,622 of 2,419 | #22 of 32 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.3:1 | #336 of 2,035 | #6 of 30 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.0% | #689 of 2,042 | #18 of 30 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.6% | #1,223 of 2,132 | #14 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.9% | #492 of 1,461 | #5 of 23 |
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
287
-24 (-8%) vs 2020
-55% since 2000-01, when it was 640
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 | 287 | 25.5 | 11.3:1 | 53% (151) |
| 2023-24 | 299 | 26 | 11.5:1 | 55% (163) |
| 2022-23 | 315 | 27.7 | 11.4:1 | 49% (154) |
| 2020-21 | 311 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 354 | 28.8 | 12.3:1 | 45% (161) |
| 2015-16 | 415 | 28 | 14.8:1 | 42% (173) |
| 2010-11 | 394 | 26 | 15.2:1 | 44% (175) |
| 2000-01 | 640 | 40 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Pepper Ridge Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (354 to 287); teachers down 11% (28.8 to 25.5).
About Pepper Ridge Elementary School
Pepper Ridge Elementary School, a small elementary school, is located in Bloomington, Illinois. The school's enrollment of 287 students covers kindergarten through 5. Statewide, elementary schools in Illinois average about 381 students each.
A total of 24 schools make up McLean County USD 5, with 12,407 students enrolled.
Pepper Ridge Elementary School's enrollment is 62% White. Other groups include 16% Hispanic, 13% Black, and 9% multiracial. By comparison, McLean County residents are about 78% White. By the diversity index, Pepper Ridge Elementary School comes in at 57%.
The ratio of students to teachers is 11.3:1, with 25.5 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. The 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is higher than this school's figure. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Pepper Ridge Elementary School is 53%. That is 13 points above the 40% average for public schools in McLean County.
The model predicts 41.1% for a school in Illinois with Pepper Ridge Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Pepper Ridge Elementary School posts 44.2%.
In the county around the school, McLean County, median household income is about $79,905, 47% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Pepper Ridge Elementary School is among the 60 public schools in McLean County.
Fox Creek Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.4 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools average 22.6% on proficiency, and Pepper Ridge Elementary School is above that at 44.2%.
The NCES locale for Pepper Ridge Elementary School is City: Small, which covers schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Pepper Ridge Elementary School went from 311 students to 287.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
McLean County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
171,556
Census ACS
Median income
$79,905
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
60
23,759 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in McLean County USD 5
- Normal Community High SchoolHigh · 2,079 students
- Normal Community West High SchoolHigh · 1,590 students
- Evans Junior High SchoolMiddle · 778 students
- Kingsley Jr High SchoolMiddle · 730 students
- Benjamin Elementary SchoolElementary · 607 students
- Parkside Jr High SchoolMiddle · 598 students
Other schools in Bloomington
- Bloomington High SchoolHigh · 1,369 students
- Bloomington Jr High SchoolMiddle · 1,050 students
- Evans Junior High SchoolMiddle · 778 students
- Benjamin Elementary SchoolElementary · 607 students
- Northpoint Elementary SchoolElementary · 472 students
- Oakland Elementary SchoolElementary · 446 students
Other Pepper Ridge Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Pepper Ridge Elementary. Pepper Ridge Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- PEPPER RIDGE ELEMENTARYBOISE, ID · 472 students
Nearby schools
- Fox Creek Elementary School1.4 mi · 292
- Brigham Elementary1.8 mi · 313
- Sarah A Raymond School of Early Educ2.1 mi · 260
- Cedar Ridge Elementary School2.2 mi · 418
- Irving Elementary School2.4 mi · 303
- Sheridan Elementary School2.9 mi · 314
Frequently asked questions
About Pepper Ridge Elementary SchoolHow large is Pepper Ridge Elementary School?
Pepper Ridge Elementary School enrolls approximately 287 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Pepper Ridge Elementary School serve?
Pepper Ridge Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Pepper Ridge Elementary School have?
Pepper Ridge Elementary School employs 26 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.3:1.
How diverse is Pepper Ridge Elementary School?
Pepper Ridge Elementary School reports a student body of 62% White, 16% Hispanic, 13% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Pepper Ridge Elementary School in?
Pepper Ridge Elementary School is part of McLean County USD 5.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.