Steward Elementary School

Steward Elementary School is a minimally staffed elementary school in Steward, Illinois, one of the schools within Steward ESD 220. The school caters to 57 students in grades K through 8. That puts it 85% below the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Steward Elementary School is a school of Steward ESD 220, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Steward Elementary School lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (81%); the rest is composed of 14% Hispanic, 5% multiracial.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 5.8:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. Roughly 18% of students at Steward Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Lee County (around 51%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Steward Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 61.4%; this one delivers 56.7%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Lee County) reports that median household income runs about $70,292, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Lee County runs 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,778 students), of which Steward Elementary School is one.

The closest other public school is Central Elem School, roughly 5.8 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Steward Elementary School ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 39.1%.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Steward Elementary School has contracted 11%, going from 64 students in 2018 to 57 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 5% to 14%. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 12.3:1 in 2018 to 5.8:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.