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Which teacher or staff member at Prairie Knolls Middle Sch deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
770
Middle
DISTRICT 594 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CENTRAL CUSD 301·NCES 170783005957
Prairie Knolls Middle School
225 Nesler Rd, Elgin, IL 60124 · (847) 717-8100 · Kane County
GRADES 06–07MIDDLE12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL770 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 80% of Illinois public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
17.2:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.8:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
17%
129 students
DISTRICT 18% · STATE 56%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 398 | 52% |
| Grade 7 | 372 | 48% |
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Central CUSD 301. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
82.4%
IL avg 51.0% . +16.3pp since 2023
Math
59.4%
IL avg 37.9% . +13.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 82 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 59 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 14 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 82.4% | 59.4% |
| 2023-24 | 66.1% | 45.8% |
% 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
67.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
61.8%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 67% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% 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 Knolls Middle School
Prairie Knolls Middle School's state test result (67.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Knolls Middle School this school | 770 | 16.8% | 67.0% |
| Barrington Middle School Station Barrington | 886 | 19.4% | 65.8% |
| Thomas Middle School Arlington Heights | 1,024 | 16.0% | 69.9% |
| Madison Jr High School Naperville | 566 | 16.4% | 70.5% |
| Murphy Junior High School Plainfield | 700 | 19.9% | 57.0% |
| Richard Ira Jones Middle School Plainfield | 851 | 22.4% | 60.4% |
Matched among Illinois middle 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 Knolls Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Kane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 67.0% | #51 of 578 | #5 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 59.4% | #81 of 640 ▲ 33 | #3 of 26 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 82.4% | #54 of 640 ▲ 72 | #3 of 26 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 770 | #95 of 691 | #11 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.2:1 | #524 of 558 | #24 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.5% | #182 of 560 | #6 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 16.8% | #551 of 581 | #22 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +19.9% | #24 of 127 | N/A |
Ranked against other public middle 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
770
+42 (+6%) vs 2020
+80% since 2010-11, when it was 427
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 | 770 | 44.7 | 17.2:1 | 17% (129) |
| 2023-24 | 777 | 44.2 | 17.6:1 | 17% (133) |
| 2022-23 | 799 | 45.2 | 17.7:1 | 17% (137) |
| 2020-21 | 728 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 642 | 42.5 | 15.1:1 | 11% (70) |
| 2015-16 | 608 | 39 | 15.6:1 | 11% (65) |
| 2010-11 | 427 | 29 | 14.7:1 | 12% (53) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Prairie Knolls Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 20% (642 to 770); teachers up 5% (42.5 to 44.7).
About Prairie Knolls Middle School
Prairie Knolls Middle School is classified as a middle school. It is located in Elgin, Illinois. Enrollment totals 770 students across grades 6 through 7. That puts enrollment 67% above the 462-student average for middle schools in Illinois.
Within Central CUSD 301, Prairie Knolls Middle School is one of 7 schools. The district enrolls 5,082 students.
Of every 100 students at Prairie Knolls Middle School, about 61 are White. The school is also 16% Hispanic, 15% Asian, 4% multiracial, and 3% Black. Among Kane County residents, the White share is about 58%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Prairie Knolls Middle School scores 57%.
Prairie Knolls Middle School reported 44.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 17.2:1. Middle schools in Illinois have an average ratio of 13.0:1. Roughly 17% of students at Prairie Knolls Middle School can receive free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Kane County average 48%.
Prairie Knolls Middle School holds an A- allk12 Grade, placing it above 80% of Illinois public middle schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Prairie Knolls Middle School is +5.2 points: 67.0% actual, 61.8% predicted.
For Kane County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $103,163, about 38% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. There are 167 public schools in the county, enrolling about 87,252, Prairie Knolls Middle School among them.
Of the public schools around it, Prairie Knolls Middle School is closest to Prairie View Grade School, about 0.5 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Prairie Knolls Middle School is 3rd of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
In the federal locale system, Prairie Knolls Middle School is coded City: Mid-size, for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment figures show a rise of 42 students from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
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.
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 Central CUSD 301
- Central High SchoolHigh · 1,575 students
- Country Trails Elementary SchoolElementary · 751 students
- Howard B Thomas Grade SchoolElementary · 678 students
- Prairie View Grade SchoolElementary · 615 students
- Central Middle SchoolMiddle · 418 students
- Lily Lake Grade SchoolElementary · 275 students
Other schools in Elgin
- Elgin High SchoolHigh · 2,576 students
- Larkin High SchoolHigh · 2,174 students
- Country Trails Elementary SchoolElementary · 751 students
- Lords Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 655 students
- Coleman Elementary SchoolElementary · 641 students
- Highland Elementary SchoolElementary · 616 students
Nearby schools
- Prairie View Grade School0.5 mi · 615
- Country Trails Elementary School2.2 mi · 751
- Hillcrest Elementary School2.3 mi · 509
- Otter Creek Elementary School2.6 mi · 437
- Creekside Elementary School2.9 mi · 469
- Larkin High School3.1 mi · 2,174
Frequently asked questions
About Prairie Knolls Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Prairie Knolls Middle School?
Prairie Knolls Middle School enrolls approximately 770 students in grades 06-07.
Is Prairie Knolls Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Prairie Knolls Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-07.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie Knolls Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Prairie Knolls Middle School is approximately 17.2:1 (45 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Prairie Knolls Middle School?
At Prairie Knolls Middle School, the student body is approximately 61% White, 16% Hispanic, 3% Black, 15% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Prairie Knolls Middle School public or private?
Prairie Knolls Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Central CUSD 301.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.