Garden Hills Elem School, Champaign IL

Original Research by School Decision on Garden Hills Elem School

Garden Hills Elem School is a PreK-8 school in Champaign that serves a diverse student body in a growing Midwestern city anchored by the University of Illinois and a revitalizing downtown. The school's academic results show persistent challenges across both math and reading that warrant careful attention from parents considering it.

The school's most recent state assessment data in math and English language arts reveals proficiency rates well below what families typically see in comparable districts. In third and fourth grade, math proficiency sat in the low double digits. By fifth grade, math proficiency dropped sharply to just a handful of students meeting state benchmarks. Reading showed similar patterns: third grade started at under ten percent proficiency, fourth grade improved to about one in five students, then fifth grade held at around fifteen percent. Sixth grade reading fared somewhat better. Science testing in fifth grade returned very low proficiency numbers as well. When the school is positioned against other districts in Champaign County, its overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. The school's participation rates in testing were strong, so these numbers reflect actual student performance rather than absences from the assessments. Illinois changed its cut scores for state tests in this administration, so year-to-year comparisons are not available; a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether these results represent a change or continuation of prior performance.

The enrollment is moderate for the grade span, with solid representation across the younger grades but sharply smaller cohorts in grades six and seven. The demographic composition is diverse: roughly half the school identifies as Black, a meaningful share as Hispanic, and smaller populations of Asian students and others. Free-and-reduced-price lunch status was not available in the data, which often indicates either missing reporting or a district reporting practice; parents should ask the school directly about the proportion of students receiving meal support, as this gives context for the academic profiles and support resources the school likely deploys.

The school's configuration as a PreK-8 school reflects a district-level change adopted in January 2023 under a restructuring plan that eliminated the balanced calendar and converted Garden Hills and one other school to this combined grade model. This shift was implemented for the 2023-2024 school year, so the current structure and instructional arrangements are relatively recent. The district has also broadly adopted AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) as a college-readiness framework, with all three of the district's middle schools designated AVID National Demonstration Schools and AVID strategies embedded across campuses. This means notetaking structures, vocabulary development, and focused writing are built into the instructional approach students encounter.

Champaign itself is a mid-sized university town with a strong employment base anchored by education and healthcare, alongside manufacturing and logistics. The city has a walkable downtown core with civic institutions, a library that recently relocated and expanded, and active public transit. Housing values and rents are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and the community is experiencing significant new development, particularly in student housing near campus and mixed-income housing near downtown. This growth context suggests a stable, investing community, though it also means the schools are serving a population experiencing some flux.

Garden Hills sits in a community where the district is actively reshaping its schools and instructional practices. The low state assessment results are the central fact a parent needs to weigh carefully. Asking the school about the trajectory of these results, the supports it has in place for students working below grade level, and how it is responding to these numbers would be essential starting points for any family considering enrollment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 38% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 35% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 52%

School 2% · District 28% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 23% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 73%

School 3% · District 31% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 35% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 40% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 38% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 38% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 40% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Science

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 32% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

This schoolChampaign CUSD 4, 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.