Enrollment
143
Elementary
STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UNION SD 81·NCES 173966004004
Union Elementary School
1661 Cherry Hill Rd, Joliet, IL 60433 · (815) 726-5218 · Will County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL143 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 86% of Illinois public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.5:1
12 FTE teachers
STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
37%
53 students
STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 5 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 14 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 20 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 14 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 21 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 16 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 17 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 15 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 11 | 8% |
| Grade 8 | 10 | 7% |
This year's kindergarten class (14) is 40% larger than its 8th grade class (10).
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
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
69.7%
IL avg 51.0% . +8.9pp since 2023
Math
60.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +9.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 70 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 69.7% | 60.7% |
| 2023-24 | 60.8% | 51.4% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
64.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+13.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 64% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 50% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 14 points, placing it in Illinois's top 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 Union Elementary School
Union Elementary School's state test result (64.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Elementary School this school | 143 | 37.1% | 64.1% |
| Bristol Grade School Bristol | 196 | 37.2% | 44.1% |
| F B Mccord Elementary School Burbank | 186 | 34.9% | N/A |
| Red Oak Elementary School Highland Park | 225 | 36.9% | 63.5% |
| C E Miller Elementary School Westmont | 194 | 38.7% | N/A |
| Manchester Elementary School Poplar Grove | 136 | 42.6% | 50.9% |
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 Union Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Will County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 64.1% | #228 of 1,925 | #22 of 94 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.7% | #401 of 2,077 ▼ 115 | #35 of 100 ▼ 12 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.7% | #356 of 2,077 ▼ 111 | #23 of 100 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 143 | #2,238 of 2,419 | #112 of 116 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 37.1% | #1,621 of 2,132 | #59 of 103 |
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
143
+31 (+28%) vs 2020
-27% since 1990-91, when it was 197
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 | 143 | 12.4 | 11.5:1 | 37% (53) |
| 2023-24 | 128 | 12.4 | 10.4:1 | 47% (60) |
| 2022-23 | 115 | 12.6 | 9.1:1 | 52% (60) |
| 2020-21 | 112 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 91 | 11.4 | 8.0:1 | 40% (36) |
| 2015-16 | 98 | 13 | 7.5:1 | 47% (46) |
| 2010-11 | 111 | 12 | 9.3:1 | 46% (51) |
| 2000-01 | 170 | 11 | 15.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 197 | 10 | 19.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Union Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 57% (91 to 143); teachers up 9% (11.4 to 12.4).
About Union Elementary School
Union Elementary School sits in Joliet, Illinois, and is classified as an elementary school. Its grade span covers kindergarten through 8, with 143 students on the rolls. Across elementary schools in Illinois, the average enrollment is about 381.
Union Elementary School falls under Union SD 81.
Hispanic students account for 46% of enrollment at Union Elementary School, more than any other group. Other groups make up 36% White, 9% Black, and 9% multiracial. County-wide, 20% of Will County residents are Hispanic. The diversity index for Union Elementary School is 64%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school had 12.4 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 11.5:1. The gap from the 13.9:1 average for elementary schools in Illinois is 2.4 students per teacher. The school reported 37% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25.
Union Elementary School holds an A allk12 Grade, placing it above 86% of Illinois public elementary schools.
After accounting for student poverty, Union Elementary School is in the top 10% of Illinois schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results of 64.1% is 13.9 points above the 50.1% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
For the population of Will County, median household income comes to about $109,984, 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Will County counts 209 public schools with about 113,008 students.
Union Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Lincoln Way West, about 1.2 miles away. Within five miles of Union Elementary School, there are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Union Elementary School is 3rd of 7 on proficiency.
NCES assigns Union Elementary School the locale Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 143 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 112.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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
- 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 Union Elementary schools
25 other US public schools in 14 states are named Union Elementary. Union Elementary School is the 23rd largest of the 26.
- Union Elementary SchoolBelleville, IL · 432 students
- Union Elementary SchoolWest Chester, OH · 682 students
- Union ElementaryShallotte, NC · 654 students
- Union Elementary SchoolGallatin, TN · 620 students
- Union Elementary SchoolUnion, OH · 539 students
Nearby schools
- Lincoln Way West1.2 mi · 2,047
- Eisenhower Academy1.5 mi · 209
- Cherry Hill Elementary and EC Center1.8 mi · 141
- Laraway School2.0 mi · 433
- T E Culbertson Elementary School2.0 mi · 377
- Woodland Elementary School2.5 mi · 368
Frequently asked questions
About Union Elementary SchoolHow large is Union Elementary School?
Union Elementary School enrolls approximately 143 students in grades KG-08.
Is Union Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Union Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-08.
How many teachers does Union Elementary School have?
Union Elementary School employs 12 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Union Elementary School?
Student demographics at Union Elementary School are roughly 36% White, 46% Hispanic, 9% Black, 9% Two or more.
What district is Union Elementary School in?
Union Elementary School is part of Union SD 81.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.