Putnam County Elem School

Putnam County Elem School is a compact elementary school in Hennepin, Illinois, overseen by Putnam County CUSD 535. The school instructs 158 students in grades 3 through 5. That puts it 59% smaller than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Putnam County CUSD 535 comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 773 students; Putnam County Elem School is among them.

Looking at the student body, Putnam County Elem School shows that the student body is overwhelmingly White (84%). The remainder is composed of 13% Hispanic, 3% multiracial.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.5:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Roughly 40% of students at Putnam County Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

With demographic context factored in, Putnam County Elem School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 48.5%; this one delivers 54.6%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Putnam County indicate median household income runs about $75,590, about 23% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. Across Putnam County's 4 public schools (combined enrollment of about 773 students), Putnam County Elem School is one campus in the mix.

DePue High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 5.4 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Putnam County Elem School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 30.8%.

The campus sits in a rural setting.

Five-year trend. Putnam County Elem School's enrollment has ticked down 5% since 2018, when it stood at 166 (now 158). The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 12.3:1 in 2018 to 10.5:1 today.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.