The top reported proficiency rate is 21% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Olney C Allen Elem School
Olney C Allen Elementary School serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Aurora, a mid-sized suburban city west of Chicago that is undergoing active downtown revitalization along the Fox River. The school enrolls a mix of students across the early elementary grades and sits within Aurora East School District 131, which has adopted a district-wide dual language program that rolls out grade by grade with the goal of all students graduating bilingual and biliterate.
The school's student body reflects Aurora's demographics. A substantial majority of students identify as Hispanic; a significant share are Black; smaller shares are Asian American or white. The enrollment is diverse and fairly representative of the broader city. Free and reduced lunch data was not available; economic context came from housing and labor indicators suggesting a working-class suburban setting, with median rents in the school's zip code running moderate to slightly higher and median home values in the low-to-mid range for the Chicago region.
Testing data from the 2024-25 school year shows proficiency rates in math and English language arts that are well below the midpoint among Kane County districts. In third grade, around one in five students reached proficiency in math and fewer than one in five in ELA. Fourth grade results dip further, with fewer than one in ten students proficient in both subjects. Fifth grade shows slightly higher ELA proficiency at roughly one in three students, and science proficiency at that same grade is around one in six students. These are low numbers that a parent may want to look into further with the school. Illinois changed cut scores for state assessments, so direct year-over-year comparison is not available; the data characterizes current performance, not recent change.
The school's grade band—prekindergarten through fifth—explains why state testing results appear only for grades three through five; younger grades are not assessed. No graduation data exists because this is an elementary school.
Aurora as a place is mixed-use suburban, with a historic downtown anchored by the Paramount Theatre, the Hollywood Casino, and RiverEdge Park along the Fox River, supported by major employers including Caterpillar, Rush-Copley Medical Center, Aurora University, and JPMorgan Chase's regional tech hub. Outer neighborhoods are largely residential subdivisions and retail corridors. The city's transportation infrastructure includes the Metra BNSF Line, Pace buses, and access to toll highways; the Aurora Transportation Center downtown is a staffed commuter rail station. Downtown Aurora is experiencing visible development pressure, with several new apartment complexes under construction or in early planning stages, and municipal planning documents forecast demand for thousands of new housing units by 2030.
The district's recent strategic plan, adopted in 2024, emphasizes equity, operational excellence, and closing opportunity gaps. The dual language initiative is a defining curriculum choice affecting how students across the district learn to read and write from kindergarten onward. Beyond those broad strokes, detailed information about Olney C Allen's specific staffing, classroom sizes, attendance patterns, discipline practices, special education services, or English learner support was not available in the data.
Housing in the school's 60505 zip code runs moderate; monthly rents average in the mid-range and home values are substantially below the state benchmark. This is an affordable-by-region setting for families seeking suburban proximity to Chicago employment and services.
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