Prairie Grove Elem School

As a mid-sized K-5 school in Crystal Lake, Illinois, Prairie Grove Elem School serves 552 students from grades pre-K through 4, operated by Prairie Grove CSD 46. That puts it 45% bigger than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Prairie Grove CSD 46 runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 909 students. Prairie Grove Elem School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Prairie Grove Elem School logs that 83% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest is composed of 9% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 3% Asian. That composition is broadly in line with McHenry County as a whole.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Prairie Grove Elem School has 42 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Prairie Grove Elem School tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 22% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against McHenry County (around 35%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Prairie Grove Elem School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 58.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 58.3%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for McHenry County indicate median household income runs about $104,802, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. Prairie Grove Elem School is one of 89 public schools in McHenry County (combined enrollment of about 50,123 students).

Nearest neighbor: Prairie Grove Junior High School, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Prairie Grove Elem School comes 3rd of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 52.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a commuter-belt area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 30%: 425 students in 2018 compared to 552 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 88% to 83% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 10.9:1 in 2018 to 13.0:1 today.

Inside the community feed, the feed for Prairie Grove Elem School typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.