Salt Fork North Elementary School, Catlin IL

Original Research by School Decision on Salt Fork North Elementary School

Salt Fork North Elementary serves the village of Catlin, a small, stable community in Vermilion County about an hour from Champaign-Urbana along the I-74 corridor. The school enrolls a small, predominantly white student body in grades preK through fifth. It is a traditional neighborhood public school, not a charter or magnet program.

The school's academic profile shows uneven results across tested grades. In English/Language Arts, third grade proficiency runs close to half of students meeting state standards, falling to about a third by fourth grade, then rebounding sharply to about two-thirds in fifth grade. Mathematics performance is weaker: about half of third graders meet proficiency, a third of fourth graders do, and fewer than one in five fifth graders do. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits below that figure. Performance indices place the school in the top quartile among Vermilion County schools, though that reflects the county's overall proficiency distribution rather than absolute attainment levels. The uneven trajectory within and across grades, especially the significant decline in fifth-grade math, is something a parent may want to look into further with the school.

Enrollment is small, with a stable cohort moving through the school each year. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of multiracial and Hispanic students and one Asian student; detailed information about students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, English learners, or those with IEPs was not available. Participation rates in state testing are complete.

Catlin itself is a compact village of under a square mile, with a population that has remained roughly stable over the past five years. It is car-dependent, with most residents driving a short distance to work or to Danville, about fifteen minutes away. Housing values in the zip code are moderate, below the state average and well below the national average, making the community affordable for families. The village has minimal commercial employment; most jobs for residents are in education, manufacturing, and retail trade, with many people commuting outside Catlin to the Danville area. The community has a library, small park with splash pad and sports courts, and heritage museum, anchoring a quiet residential character.

The Salt Fork Community Unit District has not undergone major structural changes or referendums in recent years. The district operates four schools serving the Catlin area and surrounding region. No recent curriculum shifts or tax initiatives were well-documented in public sources.

A parent considering this school should understand it as a small-town elementary serving a stable, affordable, predominantly white residential community. The testing data shows middle-range performance with some grades and subjects stronger than others, particularly a notable gap in upper-grade mathematics. This is a traditional public school without specialized programming, where the peer group and setting are defined by the village itself rather than by school choice or program selectivity.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

even with state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 25% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 434%

School 34% · District 42% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 54% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 36% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolSalt Fork CUSD 512, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.