Ransom Grade School

As an one-room-style elementary-level community in Ransom, Illinois, Ransom Grade School hosts 96 students from grades K through 8, overseen by Allen-Otter Creek CCSD 65. Enrollment runs roughly 75% smaller than the state mean of about 381.

Ransom Grade School is a school of Allen-Otter Creek CCSD 65, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Ransom Grade School shows that 86% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 8% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the income-and-resources front, The school currently runs with 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 7.6:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. About 30% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, LaSalle County runs at roughly 53%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Ransom Grade School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 54.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 42.0%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for LaSalle County indicate median household income runs about $73,045, roughly 21% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Ransom Grade School is one of 54 public schools in LaSalle County (combined enrollment of about 14,523 students).

The closest other public school is Northlawn Jr High School, roughly 9.4 miles away. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, Ransom Grade School comes 3rd of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 38.2%.

Geographically, the school is in an outlying area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count expanded 8%: 89 students in 2018 compared to 96 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 92% to 86% across the same window.

On the community side, members of the Ransom Grade School community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.