Shabbona Elem School

As a close-knit K-5 school in Bourbonnais, Illinois, Shabbona Elem School enrolls 290 students from grades K through 3, one of the schools within Bourbonnais SD 53. Compared to the state average of about 381 students per school, that is 24% smaller than typical.

Shabbona Elem School is one of 5 schools operated by Bourbonnais SD 53, a district that educates 2,276 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Shabbona Elem School shows that the most-represented group is White (53%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school records 22% Black, 15% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. By comparison, Kankakee County as a whole is about 73% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, The school employs 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.5:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 64% of students at Shabbona Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Shabbona Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 34.3%, the actual is 39.5%, a residual of +5.3 points.

In the broader community, census data for Kankakee County shows the typical household earns roughly $71,281 per year, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. Shabbona Elem School is one of 44 public schools in Kankakee County (combined enrollment of about 16,499 students).

Alan B Shepard Elem School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Shabbona Elem School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Shabbona Elem School at 5th of 8; the average score across the group is 40.8%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Looking at the recent track record. Shabbona Elem School's enrollment has ticked down 21% since 2018, when it stood at 367 (now 290). White enrollment moved from 57% to 53% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 16.8:1 in 2018 to 14.5:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.