Enrollment
367
Elementary
DISTRICT 253 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PRAIRIE CENTRAL CUSD 8·NCES 170000505129
Prairie Central Elementary School
600 S 1st St, Fairbury, IL 61739 · (815) 692-2623 · Livingston County
GRADES 02–04ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL367 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 41% of Illinois public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
12.4:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
44%
163 students
DISTRICT 48% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 2 | 128 | 35% |
| Grade 3 | 131 | 36% |
| Grade 4 | 108 | 29% |
Student demographics
26%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 28% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Prairie Central Elementary School→Prairie Central Upper Elementary→Prairie Central Jr High School→Prairie Central High School
Based on grade levels within Prairie Central CUSD 8. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Prairie Central Elementary School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
59.2%
IL avg 51.0% . +29.2pp since 2023
Math
37.9%
IL avg 37.9% . +18.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 59 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 29 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 18 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 59.2% | 37.9% |
| 2023-24 | 30.0% | 19.7% |
% 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
42.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.9%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 46% 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 Prairie Central Elementary School
Prairie Central Elementary School's state test result (42.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Central Elementary School this school | 367 | 44.4% | 42.5% |
| North Ward Elementary School Tuscola | 334 | 44.3% | 36.5% |
| R O W V A Elementary School Oneida | 369 | 44.7% | 51.7% |
| East Dubuque Elementary School East Dubuque | 359 | 42.6% | 62.4% |
| Steeleville Elementary School Steeleville | 323 | 43.0% | 34.1% |
| Fulton Elementary School Fulton | 421 | 42.3% | 43.4% |
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 Prairie Central Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Livingston County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 42.5% | #841 of 1,925 | #2 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.9% | #1,028 of 2,077 ▲ 170 | #1 of 9 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 59.2% | #702 of 2,077 ▲ 481 | #2 of 9 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 367 | #1,163 of 2,419 | #2 of 12 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #673 of 2,035 | #4 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 25.8% | #1,480 of 2,042 | #6 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 44.4% | #1,449 of 2,132 | #8 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.7% | #1,267 of 1,461 | #6 of 7 |
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
367
+51 (+16%) vs 2020
-42% since 1990-91, when it was 635
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 | 367 | 29.7 | 12.4:1 | 44% (163) |
| 2023-24 | 368 | 28.5 | 12.9:1 | 44% (162) |
| 2022-23 | 322 | 29.6 | 10.9:1 | 45% (146) |
| 2020-21 | 316 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 381 | 30.2 | 12.6:1 | 48% (181) |
| 2015-16 | 386 | 25 | 15.4:1 | 34% (132) |
| 2010-11 | 393 | 26 | 15.1:1 | 31% (123) |
| 2000-01 | 433 | 29 | 14.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 635 | 32 | 19.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Prairie Central Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (381 to 367); teachers down 2% (30.2 to 29.7).
About Prairie Central Elementary School
Federal records list Prairie Central Elementary School as an elementary school in Fairbury, Illinois. Students in grades 2 through 4 make up the school's enrollment of 367 students.
Within Prairie Central CUSD 8, Prairie Central Elementary School is one of 6 schools. The district enrolls 1,712 students.
Prairie Central Elementary School is 86% White by enrollment. Beyond that, enrollment is 9% Hispanic and 5% multiracial. That is in line with Livingston County, where about 89% of residents are White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Prairie Central Elementary School scores 26%.
Based on 29.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, Prairie Central Elementary School has a ratio of 12.4:1. Compared with the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois, this school's ratio is lower. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 44%.
Among Illinois public elementary schools, Prairie Central Elementary School outscored 41%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
On BeatsExpectations, Prairie Central Elementary School is 3.4 points below its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Illinois schools.
In Livingston County, the median household earns about $73,790 a year, about 19% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 8%. Across Livingston County, 24 public schools serve about 5,273 students.
The closest school to Prairie Central Elementary School is Prairie Central High School, located about 1.0 miles away. The count of other public schools within ten miles is 3. Its average proficiency rate of 42.5% is above the 37.3% average for nearby schools.
Locale: Rural: Distant. In NCES terms, the school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
The school's student count increased 16% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on athletics, class schedules, and weather closures here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Livingston County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,565
Census ACS
Median income
$73,790
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
5,273 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Prairie Central CUSD 8
- Prairie Central High SchoolHigh · 487 students
- Prairie Central Jr High SchoolMiddle · 250 students
- Prairie Central Primary WestElementary · 244 students
- Prairie Central Upper ElementaryMiddle · 216 students
- Prairie Central Primary EastElementary · 148 students
Nearby schools
- Prairie Central High School1.0 mi · 487
- Prairie Central Jr High School5.6 mi · 250
- Prairie Central Upper Elementary5.6 mi · 216
- Prairie Central Primary West10.6 mi · 244
- Lincoln Elementary School10.9 mi · 227
- Washington Elementary School11.1 mi · 221
Frequently asked questions
About Prairie Central Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Prairie Central Elementary School?
Prairie Central Elementary School enrolls approximately 367 students in grades 02-04.
What grades does Prairie Central Elementary School serve?
Prairie Central Elementary School serves grades 02-04.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie Central Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Prairie Central Elementary School is approximately 12.4:1 (30 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Prairie Central Elementary School?
Prairie Central Elementary School reports a student body of 86% White, 9% Hispanic, 1% Black, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Prairie Central Elementary School?
Prairie Central Elementary School is overseen by Prairie Central CUSD 8 in Livingston County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.