Washington Elem School, Oglesby IL

Original Research by School Decision on Washington Elem School

Washington Elem School serves grades six through eight in Oglesby, a small city in north-central Illinois anchored by historic manufacturing and now sustained by a blend of tourism tied to Starved Rock State Park, a community college, and distribution operations. The school enrolls just over a hundred students, with the cohort split fairly evenly across the three grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic population making up roughly a fifth of enrollment and a small Asian and Black presence. Free-or-reduced-price lunch counts were not available.

State test data for the school is mixed and grade-dependent. In English language arts, performance ranges from weak to strong depending on the grade. Seventh grade lags noticeably, while eighth grade is well above the typical threshold for proficiency. Sixth grade lands solidly in the middle range. Math proficiency is consistently low across the grades where data appears, falling in the low-to-mid range for sixth grade and dropping further in seventh and eighth. Science proficiency in eighth grade is modest. The school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the county's districts, suggesting that while math is a clear soft spot, the stronger ELA results in the upper grades pull the school's standing up relative to its neighbors.

Engagement with testing was complete or near-complete across the subjects and grades reported, indicating that assessment data reflects genuine school performance rather than participation gaps. However, state testing data for grades three through five is not shown here because the school does not serve those grades; it is a middle school building.

Oglesby itself is small and economically modest. The housing market is tight and has been warming, with median home values rising modestly in recent years and inventory lean. The town sits at the intersection of Interstate 39 and state routes, with easy access to regional employment and recreational assets. Downtown Oglesby maintains independent local businesses and a walkable main street, though it is residential in character overall. There is no documented municipal transit; the town is car-dependent.

A parent considering Washington Elem should understand that the school's teaching strengths lie primarily in English language arts, especially at the upper middle grades. Math instruction appears to be a challenge, and a parent whose child struggles with math may want to look into what supports and interventions the school offers in that subject. The school is small, which can mean tight-knit peer relationships and individualized teacher attention, or it can mean limited course choice and extracurricular breadth, depending on your family's values. The district itself shows no documented recent changes in curriculum, facilities, or operations that would shape enrollment decisions.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 668%

School 68% · District 68%

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

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 74%

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

Science

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 40%

even with state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

This schoolOglesby ESD 125, 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.