Carrier Mills-stonefort Elem Sch, Carrier Mills IL

Original Research by School Decision on Carrier Mills-stonefort Elem Sch

Carrier Mills-Stonefort Elementary School serves pre-K through eighth grade in a small village in Saline County that sits within the footprint of a formerly bustling coal-mining town. The school's enrollment is small, distributed across a wide grade span, with a student body that is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students identifying as multiracial, Black, and Hispanic.

The academic picture requires close attention. State testing data from 2024-25 shows proficiency rates that are consistently low across math, English language arts, and science. In math, proficiency ranges from around a small fraction in the upper grades to roughly one-fifth in the lower elementary grades. English language arts performance is more variable: Grade 3 proficiency is around one-fifth, Grade 4 climbs to about half, Grades 5 and 6 sit in the mid-range, then Grades 7 and 8 show substantially higher proficiency. Science testing yields low proficiency in Grade 5 and moderate performance in Grade 8. Across both subjects and grade levels combined, this school's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint among the five districts in Saline County.

The school's placement in a declining community carries real context. The village experienced significant population loss following the closure of coal mines and the hollowing out of its historic downtown. Local employment has continued to decline in recent years. The housing market shows modest values. The nearest hospital is in neighboring Harrisburg, and public services are limited. A substantial share of residents commute for work.

State testing data does not come with year-over-year comparisons that would show whether these proficiency rates reflect a trend or a stable condition, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school and district directly. Enrollment numbers and free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility data were not available, so the school's full economic and support context is incomplete from the data provided.

The school operates within Carrier Mills-Stonefort CUSD 2, a consolidated district formed when Stonefort joined Carrier Mills. No major curriculum initiatives or district changes were publicly reported in recent months, suggesting stable, routine operations rather than significant new programs or instructional overhauls.

For a family considering this school, the primary question is academic support. The testing results suggest students face real achievement gaps, particularly in mathematics, and particularly as they move into middle grades. Whether that reflects resource constraints, instructional approach, student need, or prior preparation would require conversation with school leadership. The village setting is quiet and residential, suited to families seeking a small-town environment, but one should recognize that community-wide decline is ongoing and that most services and job opportunities lie outside Carrier Mills itself.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 29 pts below state median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 20 pts below state median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 7%

▼ 23 pts below state median

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 6%

▼ 18 pts below state median

Grade 74%

School 4% · District 4%

▼ 25 pts below state median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 4%

▼ 18 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 21 pts below state median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 69%

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 29 pts above state median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 27 pts below state median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 5 pts below state median

This schoolCarrier Mills-Stonefort CUSD 2, 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.