Calhoun Elementary/ Jr High Sch, Hardin IL

Original Research by School Decision on Calhoun Elementary/ Jr High Sch

Calhoun Elementary/Jr High is a public school serving about a small to medium enrollment across pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Hardin, Illinois, a compact river village on the edge of Calhoun County. The school sits on a rural campus outside the main downtown, serving students across a wide age span with a student body that is predominantly white and drawn from a thinly populated county.

The school's academic performance shows a clear gradient challenge as students progress into middle school. In third grade, math proficiency is strong. By fourth grade it drops sharply, and from sixth grade onward proficiency rates fall steeply in math, with particularly low performance by eighth grade. Reading (ELA) shows a similar pattern: solid ground in the early grades softens through the elementary years and declines markedly in the upper middle grades. Science proficiency tested in fifth and eighth grades runs low. Across the board, performance becomes much more constrained in the transition to and through the upper middle school years. A parent reading these results would want to understand whether the school has identified the drivers of this pattern and what supports or interventions are being put in place to help students in grades six through eight build stronger foundational skills.

The enrollment profile is small and stable: families within the school are almost entirely white, with a handful of Hispanic students and very few students of other backgrounds. Economic data on free- and reduced-price lunch eligibility was not available, making it difficult to assess family income composition directly. The school's locale is rural and distant from larger population centers, which shapes both the school's likely resource context and the family options available. Housing in the Hardin zip code is relatively modest in value compared to state and national benchmarks, and the broader community is experiencing gentle population decline rather than growth, reflecting long-term demographic shifts in Calhoun County.

The school has no high school grades, so no graduation rate applies. State testing data was not available for grade bands earlier than third grade, consistent with state assessment rules. Information on special education enrollment, English learner support, attendance patterns, and staffing was not available.

Hardin itself is a river-oriented village marked by slow decline and flood-focused planning. The school is well integrated into the village structure; it shares civic space with the county library on the same campus. There is no public transit; road access depends entirely on the Joe Page Bridge, the only bridge into Calhoun County, and periodic ferry service. Most families will drive to school.

A parent choosing this school is selecting a small, rural, mixed-grade setting in a tight-knit community with a deeply local peer environment. The school's strength lies in its early-elementary instruction; the academic picture becomes substantially more challenging as students move into middle grades. A family might want to visit the school, speak directly with teachers and administration about the sixth through eighth grade performance, and understand what support systems exist if their child shows struggle in those years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 86%

▲ 40 pts above state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 29 pts above state median

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

even with state median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 9 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 369%

School 69% · District 69%

▲ 25 pts above state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 20 pts below state median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 18 pts below state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 21 pts below state median

Science

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 5 pts below state median

This schoolCalhoun CUSD 40, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income42%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income6%Higher-income40%34 pp gap