Sandoval Elem School

Sandoval Elem School is an elementary campus of low-enrollment scale in Sandoval, Illinois, part of Sandoval CUSD 501, serveing 221 students in grades pre-K through 6. Enrollment runs roughly 42% below the state mean of about 381.

Sandoval CUSD 501 runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 429 students. Sandoval Elem School is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Sandoval Elem School logs that 88% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest is composed of 8% multiracial, 5% Hispanic. That composition is broadly in line with Marion County as a whole.

Looking at school resources, The school currently runs with 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Roughly 74% of students at Sandoval Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is noticeably above Marion County's rate of about 64%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Sandoval Elem School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 28.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 22.6%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Marion County indicate median household income runs about $61,240, roughly 17% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Marion County's 27 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,636 students), Sandoval Elem School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Sandoval Sr High School, around 0.8 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 5 other public schools cluster around Sandoval Elem School. On composite proficiency, Sandoval Elem School comes 4th of 7 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 24.9%.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 26%: 298 students in 2018 compared to 221 in 2025.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.