Willowbrook Middle School, South Beloit IL

Original Research by School Decision on Willowbrook Middle School

Willowbrook Middle School serves grades five through eight in South Beloit, a small border city in Winnebago County with a sparse suburban character anchored by single-family homes, parks along the Rock River, and manufacturing-based employment. The school enrolls roughly a mid-sized cohort spread across the four grades, with the student body predominantly white, consistent with the broader demographics of South Beloit's residential community.

The academic picture shows strength in English language arts alongside more modest performance in math and science. In English language arts, proficiency rises sharply through the grade band: eighth graders demonstrate strong performance, while fifth and sixth graders also show proficiency rates in the high range. The school's math results are more measured. Fifth grade math proficiency sits below the midpoint, sixth grade moves closer to the middle of the range, and seventh and eighth grades hold steady in the mid-range. Science proficiency, available for fifth and eighth grades only, shows a similar profile: fifth grade is at the lower half of the band, while eighth grade improves noticeably. Across all assessed subjects and grades, Willowbrook's overall proficiency sits in the top quartile when compared with other districts in Winnebago County, suggesting it outperforms the county median on balance even where individual grade-and-subject combinations show room for growth.

State testing data was not available for grades three and four, which the school does serve. Those grades are not routinely assessed under Illinois's state assessment system, so the absence reflects the grade band tested statewide rather than a gap specific to this school.

The school sits within Prairie Hill Community Consolidated School District 133. The district brief yielded no parent-relevant changes of clear lasting impact in recent years, suggesting relative stability in the local educational environment.

South Beloit itself is experiencing measured residential and economic development. New housing construction includes single-family subdivisions, and mixed-use projects along Shirland Avenue are in the proposal stage. Local manufacturing has faced headwinds, with a major food-production facility announcing closure in 2025, though the broader labor market remains anchored by manufacturing, health care, and retail. The city has secured public investment in parks and natural areas, including recent grant funding for a neighborhood park at Nature at the Confluence. Housing values in the South Beloit zip code are moderate relative to state and national benchmarks, and affordability metrics suggest monthly mortgage costs are well below rent in the local market, making the area accessible for families seeking ownership.

Willowbrook's profile points to a school where English language arts instruction appears to have traction, where middle-grade math and science are developing, and where the overall academic standing is solid relative to county peers. For a family considering this school, the main questions to explore directly with the school would be around supports for math acceleration or intervention depending on grade level, the science curriculum and resources available in the middle grades, and the mix of electives and enrichment in a grades five through eight structure.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 87%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 684%

School 84% · District 84%

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

Grade 781%

School 81% · District 81%

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

Grade 895%

School 95% · District 95%

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Science

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

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

This schoolPrairie Hill CCSD 133, 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.