Grant Park Elem School, Grant Park IL

Original Research by School Decision on Grant Park Elem School

Grant Park Elementary School serves students in prekindergarten through eighth grade in a small farm village in northeastern Kankakee County, about fifty miles south of Chicago. The school is part of Grant Park CUSD 6, a two-school district serving the community and surrounding area. The building sits on the north edge of the village at Esson Farm Road, slightly removed from the small downtown civic core but still within the compact settlement.

The school enrolls a modest student population across ten grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of students identifying as two or more races. Specific counts for students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, students with individualized education programs, and English learners are not available in the reported data, so a parent interested in those figures should ask the school directly.

On the 2024-25 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), proficiency results show a school with uneven strength across subjects and grade levels. English language arts is the clearer asset: fourth-grade students show solid proficiency, fifth and sixth grades sit around the midpoint, and eighth grade performs markedly strong. Math proficiency is weaker and more variable. Third grade shows reasonable proficiency, but fourth through seventh grades dip substantially, with sixth grade notably low. Eighth grade recovers to the midpoint. Science proficiency was tested at fifth and eighth grades and stands at the midpoint in both. Overall, the school's mean proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among the county's school districts, a genuine strength, though the underlying pattern suggests students in the middle grades (particularly grades five through seven) face greater academic challenges in mathematics.

The school participates in statewide testing with full participation rates across most grades, indicating reliable data collection and student engagement with assessments. It is worth noting that the state adjusted cut scores for proficiency this year, so year-to-year trend comparisons would require careful interpretation.

The district is currently undertaking a major facilities investment at Grant Park Elementary, with health and life safety bond funding (pending state approval) supporting a new HVAC system, a new roof, and a redesigned secure front entryway. Construction is underway as of fall 2025. This multi-year project will modernize the building climate, improve security, and affect long-term district debt service. For families considering enrollment now, this means the school environment will be undergoing active improvement over the coming year or two.

Grant Park itself is a small, stable community with flat to slightly declining population over the past decade. The village is oriented around a small downtown core with civic institutions, though the school sits on a separate campus. Housing values in the area are below the state average, and mortgage affordability is relatively favorable compared to national benchmarks. The community is agricultural in character and economically tied to the broader Kankakee-Bradley region. No fixed-route public transit serves the village.

A parent considering Grant Park Elementary should understand that this is a small neighborhood school in a rural community with mixed academic performance. The school's strength in English language arts and its overall county-level ranking are genuine positives. The softer proficiency numbers in middle-grade mathematics, particularly in grades five through seven, may warrant asking the school about supports and interventions for students in those grades. The ongoing facilities work represents a meaningful commitment to the building's future. The environment is intimate, family-oriented, and stable rather than growing rapidly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 62%

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

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▲ 6 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 67%

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

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 70%

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

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 73%

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

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 777%

School 77% · District 77%

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

Grade 892%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Science

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolGrant Park CUSD 6, 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.