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What's the state of after-school transportation at Taft Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
424
Elementary
DISTRICT 392 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·JOLIET PSD 86·NCES 172058002345
Taft Elementary School
1125 Oregon St, Joliet, IL 60435 · (815) 725-2700 · Will County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL424 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.9:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
95%
401 students
DISTRICT 96% · STATE 56%
Community
4
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 15 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 59 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 57 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 69 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 79 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 13% smaller than its 5th grade class (68).
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 46% · 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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
34.3%
IL avg 51.0% . +15.3pp since 2023
Math
25.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +11.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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 15 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 11 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 34.3% | 25.7% |
| 2023-24 | 19.0% | 14.4% |
% 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
28.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
16.9%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 17% 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 Taft Elementary School
Taft Elementary School's state test result (28.6% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taft Elementary School this school | 424 | 94.6% | 28.6% |
| T E Culbertson Elementary School Joliet | 377 | 92.3% | 27.8% |
| Graham A Elementary School Chicago | 344 | 89.2% | 14.5% |
| Woodland Elementary School Joliet | 368 | 95.1% | 19.7% |
| Lincoln-Irving Elementary School Moline | 382 | 87.7% | 11.3% |
| West Park Elementary Academy Chicago | 442 | 97.7% | 23.4% |
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 Taft Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Will County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 28.6% | #1,319 of 1,925 | #78 of 94 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.7% | #1,430 of 2,077 ▼ 6 | #83 of 100 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 34.3% | #1,544 of 2,077 ▲ 68 | #84 of 100 ▲ 5 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 424 | #886 of 2,419 | #64 of 116 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.9:1 | #1,988 of 2,035 | #105 of 107 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.6% | #841 of 2,042 | #70 of 108 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 94.6% | #167 of 2,132 | #11 of 103 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.2% | #1,409 of 1,461 | #69 of 71 |
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
424
+42 (+11%) vs 2020
+38% since 1990-91, when it was 308
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 | 424 | 21.3 | 19.9:1 | 95% (401) |
| 2023-24 | 424 | 19.1 | 22.2:1 | 95% (401) |
| 2022-23 | 388 | 19.7 | 19.7:1 | 95% (369) |
| 2020-21 | 382 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 429 | 28.2 | 15.2:1 | 100% (429) |
| 2015-16 | 421 | 25 | 16.8:1 | 99% (417) |
| 2010-11 | 463 | 21 | 22.1:1 | 60% (277) |
| 2000-01 | 486 | 20 | 24.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 308 | 16 | 19.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Taft Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (429 to 424); teachers down 25% (28.2 to 21.3).
About Taft Elementary School
Taft Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in Joliet, Illinois, one of the schools in Joliet PSD 86. Total enrollment is 424 students, and the grades served are kindergarten through 5.
Joliet PSD 86 is the district for Taft Elementary School. It has 20 schools and 9,333 students.
Of every 100 students at Taft Elementary School, about 66 are Hispanic. Other reported shares: 14% White, 13% Black, and 6% multiracial. Will County's residents are about 20% Hispanic, 46 points below the school's share. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 53%.
Teacher count: 21.3 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 19.9:1. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 6.0 students per teacher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 95%. The average for public schools in Will County is 44%.
On BeatsExpectations, Taft Elementary School is 11.7 points above its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Illinois schools.
In Will County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $109,984, about 38% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. The county has 209 public schools and about 113,008 students.
About 0.5 miles separate Taft Elementary School from the closest public school, Hufford Junior High School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 24.1%; Taft Elementary School's is 28.6%, ranking 3rd of 9.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's enrollment rose 11% from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
The discussion board for Taft Elementary School is open to topics like pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Will County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
701,462
Census ACS
Median income
$109,984
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
38%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
209
113,008 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Joliet PSD 86
- Hufford Junior High SchoolMiddle · 1,072 students
- Washington Jr High & Academy PrgmMiddle · 724 students
- Dirksen Junior High SchoolMiddle · 653 students
- Sator Sanchez Elementary SchoolElementary · 635 students
- Pershing Elementary SchoolElementary · 621 students
- Lynne Thigpen Elementary SchoolElementary · 620 students
Other schools in Joliet
- Joliet West High SchoolHigh · 3,451 students
- Joliet Central High SchoolHigh · 3,295 students
- Hufford Junior High SchoolMiddle · 1,072 students
- Aux Sable Middle SchoolMiddle · 844 students
- Washington Jr High & Academy PrgmMiddle · 724 students
- Dirksen Junior High SchoolMiddle · 653 students
Other Taft Elementary schools
12 other US public schools in 10 states are named Taft Elementary. Taft Elementary School is the 5th largest of the 13.
- TAFT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLWASHINGTONVILLE, NY · 522 students
- Taft Elementary SchoolMESA, AZ · 491 students
- Taft Elementary SchoolLincoln City, OR · 464 students
- Taft ElementaryStockton, CA · 449 students
- Taft ElementarySanta Ana, CA · 408 students
Nearby schools
- Hufford Junior High School0.5 mi · 1,072
- Carl Sandburg Elementary1.0 mi · 371
- Pershing Elementary School1.1 mi · 621
- Joliet West High School1.2 mi · 3,451
- M J Cunningham Elementary School1.2 mi · 484
- Farragut Elementary School1.3 mi · 568
Frequently asked questions
About Taft Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Taft Elementary School?
Taft Elementary School enrolls approximately 424 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Taft Elementary School serve?
Taft Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at Taft Elementary School?
Approximately 19.9:1 students per teacher at Taft Elementary School.
How diverse is Taft Elementary School?
Taft Elementary School reports a student body of 14% White, 66% Hispanic, 13% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Taft Elementary School public or private?
Taft Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Joliet PSD 86.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.