Enrollment
232
Elementary
DISTRICT 322 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARLEM UD 122·NCES 171824002107
Ralston Elementary School
710 Ralston Rd, Machesney Park, IL 61115 · (815) 654-4505 · Winnebago County
GRADES 01–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL232 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
17 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
105 students
DISTRICT 64% · 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 1 | 48 | 21% |
| Grade 2 | 44 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 23% |
| Grade 4 | 52 | 22% |
| Grade 5 | 34 | 15% |
This year's 1st grade class (48) is 41% larger than its 5th grade class (34).
Student demographics
39%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 54% · 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
Based on grade levels within Harlem UD 122. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
45.3%
IL avg 51.0% . +12.3pp since 2023
Math
41.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +16.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 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 12 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 16 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.3% | 41.7% |
| 2023-24 | 33.0% | 25.5% |
% 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
40.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.4%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Ralston Elementary School
Ralston Elementary School's state test result (40.9% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ralston Elementary School this school | 232 | 45.3% | 40.9% |
| Earlville Elementary School Earlville | 253 | 45.1% | 41.5% |
| Milne Grove Elementary School Lockport | 233 | 42.1% | 65.8% |
| Lynn G Haskin Elementary School Sandwich | 226 | 46.0% | 68.6% |
| Carthage Primary School Carthage | 238 | 43.3% | 30.1% |
| Prairie Central Primary West Chenoa | 244 | 45.1% | N/A |
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 Ralston Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Winnebago County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.9% | #885 of 1,925 | #13 of 44 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 41.7% | #915 of 2,077 ▲ 59 | #11 of 44 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.3% | #1,175 of 2,077 ▼ 119 | #13 of 44 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 232 | #1,918 of 2,419 | #51 of 54 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #1,170 of 2,035 | #11 of 48 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 38.5% | #1,188 of 2,042 | #40 of 51 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.3% | #1,426 of 2,132 | #40 of 53 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.6% | #135 of 1,461 | #3 of 28 |
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
232
-117 (-34%) vs 2020
-56% since 1990-91, when it was 524
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 | 232 | 16.8 | 13.8:1 | 45% (105) |
| 2023-24 | 294 | 19.1 | 15.4:1 | 46% (136) |
| 2022-23 | 284 | 19.1 | 14.9:1 | 45% (129) |
| 2020-21 | 349 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 344 | 21.1 | 16.3:1 | 45% (154) |
| 2015-16 | 327 | 20 | 16.4:1 | 38% (123) |
| 2010-11 | 437 | 25 | 17.5:1 | 33% (143) |
| 2000-01 | 442 | 26 | 17.0:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 524 | 27 | 19.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ralston Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 33% (344 to 232); teachers down 20% (21.1 to 16.8).
About Ralston Elementary School
Ralston Elementary School is a small elementary school in Machesney Park, Illinois, administered by Harlem UD 122. A federal count lists 232 students at the school, in grades 1 through 5. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Illinois is about 381, so this school runs 39% smaller than that.
Ralston Elementary School falls under Harlem UD 122, which has 11 schools enrolling 6,108 students.
A majority of students at Ralston Elementary School, 77%, are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 14% Hispanic and 8% multiracial. The White share of the county population is lower, at 66%. By the diversity index, Ralston Elementary School comes in at 39%.
Dividing enrollment by its 16.8 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 13.8:1. Across elementary schools in Illinois, the average ratio is about 13.9:1. Ralston Elementary School reports 45% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Across public schools in Winnebago County, the average is 61%.
In Illinois, Ralston Elementary School is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 40.9% actual against a predicted 45.4%.
Federal survey data for Winnebago County show that median household income is about $65,837, about 25% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 11%. A total of 94 public schools operate in Winnebago County, serving about 44,103 students.
Olson Park Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.9 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Ralston Elementary School's average proficiency of 40.9% compares with 32.7% for its nearest scored neighbors.
By NCES locale, the school is Suburb: Large, or in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment down 34%, from 349 to 232.
Discussions about Ralston Elementary School may include school safety, transportation, and start times. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Winnebago County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
283,292
Census ACS
Median income
$65,837
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
94
44,103 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harlem UD 122
- Harlem High SchoolHigh · 1,884 students
- Harlem Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,330 students
- Donald C Parker Early Educ CenterElementary · 571 students
- Machesney Elementary SchoolElementary · 361 students
- Windsor Elementary SchoolElementary · 315 students
- Maple Elementary SchoolElementary · 313 students
Other schools in Machesney Park
- Harlem High SchoolHigh · 1,884 students
- Donald C Parker Early Educ CenterElementary · 571 students
- Machesney Elementary SchoolElementary · 361 students
- Olson Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 294 students
- Marquette Elementary SchoolElementary · 268 students
Other Ralston Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Ralston Elementary. Ralston Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Ralston Elementary SchoolGOLDEN, CO · 289 students
Nearby schools
- Olson Park Elementary School0.9 mi · 294
- Harlem High School1.4 mi · 1,884
- Machesney Elementary School1.5 mi · 361
- Marquette Elementary School1.8 mi · 268
- Donald C Parker Early Educ Center2.0 mi · 571
- Maple Elementary School2.4 mi · 313
Frequently asked questions
About Ralston Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Ralston Elementary School?
Ralston Elementary School enrolls approximately 232 students in grades 01-05.
What grades does Ralston Elementary School serve?
Ralston Elementary School serves grades 01-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ralston Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Ralston Elementary School is approximately 13.8:1 (17 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Ralston Elementary School?
At Ralston Elementary School, the student body is approximately 77% White, 14% Hispanic, 1% Black, 8% Two or more.
What district is Ralston Elementary School in?
Ralston Elementary School is part of Harlem UD 122.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.