Argenta-oreana Elementary School, Oreana IL

Original Research by School Decision on Argenta-oreana Elementary School

Argenta-Oreana Elementary School serves children from prekindergarten through fifth grade in a small, rural village in Macon County. The school enrolls a modest population from Oreana and surrounding areas. The community is predominantly white, with most families owning their homes and a mix of residents working in office, management, and professional roles.

The school's state test results show mixed performance across grade levels and subjects. In third and fourth grade, math proficiency runs in the range above half of students, with fourth grade stronger than third. By fifth grade, math proficiency drops sharply, with far fewer students meeting proficiency standards. English language arts follows a similar pattern: third grade is solid at around half proficient, fourth grade strengthens to nearly seven in ten, and fifth grade falls back to below four in ten. In science, tested only at fifth grade, roughly four in ten students reach proficiency. The school administered testing with full participation. Illinois changed proficiency cut scores this year, so comparisons to prior years are not available.

When compared against other districts in Macon County, the school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades falls below the median, sitting lower than the midpoint. Parents may want to look into the school's approach to fifth-grade mathematics and language arts, where proficiency rates are notably lower than in the grades below, to understand whether there are specific instructional challenges or transitions that explain the pattern.

The elementary school operates as a standalone facility in Oreana proper, on South Street. The middle and high schools are located about four miles away in Argenta on a shared campus. The district has not announced major referendums, tax shifts, or curriculum changes in the recent period.

Oreana is a compact residential village of roughly half a square mile with a rural, small-town character and agricultural heritage. Most residents own their homes. The village sits along Illinois Route 48, which connects it to Decatur, a regional employment center, to the southwest. There are few large employers within Oreana itself; the school district is one of the area's stable employers. Housing values in the zip code are below the state and national median, and mortgage costs as a share of household income are moderate. A parcel of land along East Street has been marketed for residential subdivision development, but growth has been flat to slowly declining over the past two decades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 57 pts above county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

This schoolArgenta-Oreana CUSD 1, 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.