The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Science. The lowest is 61% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on C R Hanna Elem School
C.R. Hanna Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Orion, a small rural village in Henry County in western Illinois. The school sits within Orion Community Unit School District 223 and educates a student body that is predominantly white, with very small populations of other racial and ethnic groups represented.
The school's academic performance shows mixed results across tested grades and subjects. In math, third-graders show stronger proficiency, while fourth-grade math proficiency dips below third grade. By fifth grade math rises again. In English language arts, the school shows a notable upward progression: third-grade ELA proficiency is below half, fourth grade improves substantially to around three in five students, and fifth grade reaches nearly four in five students proficient. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits at roughly two-thirds of students. Student participation in testing is near complete across all grades and subjects. When proficiency results are averaged across all tested grades and subjects, C.R. Hanna's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the county's public school districts.
The school's enrollment is small to mid-sized for its grade band, around mid-single digits per grade for kindergarten through third grade, with slightly higher enrollment in grades four and five. Precise counts for students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch were not available in the data. Similarly, data on students with IEPs or English learners was not provided, so a reader interested in understanding the school's capacity for specialized instruction should inquire with the school directly.
Recent facility upgrades have reshaped the school's physical environment. In summer 2022, the district completed a capital project that added new preschool classrooms and STEM labs at C.R. Hanna, modernized secure entryways at the building, and installed new climate control systems. These upgrades create tangible learning environments: dedicated spaces for science, technology, engineering, and math instruction, and expanded early-childhood capacity for students transitioning into the elementary grades.
Orion itself is a compact rural community where farmland surrounds a small downtown. Housing values fall below state and national benchmarks, making the area affordable for families. The local economy is small, anchored by educational services, health care, construction, and a community bank. Population has been roughly stable to slightly declining. New residential development is modest. The Western District Library, located on the village's main street, serves Orion and surrounding towns with children's programming, and downtown churches and village civic institutions form social anchors.
In February 2024, the district adopted a policy using remote instruction days in place of weather and emergency cancellations, meaning school calendars are no longer extended at year's end when closures occur. This is a structural change parents should factor into planning.
Grade six and beyond are not part of C.R. Hanna's enrollment, so state testing data for those grades do not appear. The school serves pre-K through fifth grade only.
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