Millikin Elem School, Geneseo IL

Original Research by School Decision on Millikin Elem School

Millikin Elementary serves grades kindergarten through fifth across a small student body in Geneseo, a modest-sized city in Henry County. The school sits in a community with a walkable, historic downtown core and a blend of residential neighborhoods. Housing in the area is priced below both state and national benchmarks, making it accessible to working families, and the school draws from a community composition that is predominantly white with smaller shares of Hispanic and other students.

The school's academic results show uneven performance across grades and subjects. In English language arts, third grade proficiency sits in the mid-range, fourth grade trails further behind, and fifth grade shows notably stronger results. Mathematics tells a similar story of variability, with third grade proficiency above the midpoint, fourth grade substantially weaker, and fifth grade moderate. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the only tested grade for that subject, is approximately at the midpoint. Overall, the school's mean proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls below the midpoint among the county's districts. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about which grade levels or subject areas receive particular intervention or instructional focus, and how the school approaches the grade-to-grade variation.

State testing data for grades six through eight are not available; the school serves only through grade five, so those grades are untested in the school system. Graduation rate and college-readiness pathways do not apply. Chronic absenteeism data and staffing details were not available in the materials.

The Geneseo CUSD 228 district, which operates Millikin along with two other elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school, has recently expanded its academic offerings. In May 2025, the district opened the Ted McAvoy Career and Technical Education Center at the high school, introducing hands-on pathways in carpentry, welding, and related trades. That facility addition represents a commitment to career and technical options alongside traditional academics and may be relevant to families thinking about middle-school years and beyond.

In early 2025, the school board authorized bonded indebtedness to increase working capital and refund prior obligations, backed by a direct property-tax levy. This financing action shapes the district's tax profile for property owners and is one marker of ongoing capital management in a district that has historically operated in the lower-to-middle range of per-pupil spending across its county peers.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 64% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 48% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 40% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 53% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 52% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 67% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 49% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

This schoolGeneseo CUSD 228, 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.