Rockford Envrnmntl Science Acad, Rockford IL

Original Research by School Decision on Rockford Envrnmntl Science Acad

Rockford Environmental Science Academy is a middle school serving grades six through eight in Rockford, with an enrollment drawn entirely from the district's school population. The school's student body is predominantly Hispanic, with substantial African American and white representation and smaller numbers of Asian and Native American students. The school is situated on Ogilby Road on Rockford's east side.

On state assessments, the school's proficiency rates are very low across tested subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from around two percent at grade six to roughly six percent at grade eight. English language arts proficiency is slightly higher, ranging from around twelve percent at grade seven to nearly sixteen percent at grade eight. Science proficiency at grade eight sits at roughly fourteen percent. These proficiency levels place the school in the bottom quartile among Winnebago County districts on the overall proficiency index. Test participation rates are strong, ranging from roughly ninety-five to nearly ninety-eight percent across subjects and grades, suggesting the low proficiency results reflect genuine academic struggle rather than widespread testing avoidance.

State testing data for grades three through five were not available, likely because this school serves only middle grades and Illinois does not report school-level results for elementary grades at schools that do not house them.

The school is part of Rockford School District 205, a district undergoing substantial infrastructure and programmatic change. The district approved a five-year facilities master plan that will bring new building conditions across all schools and expand specialized programs like International Baccalaureate and STEAM down into the middle school level. Additionally, all RPS buildings now have air conditioning, which allowed the district to shift its calendar earlier; the 2025-26 school year began in mid-August rather than early September, moving the end of the first semester before winter break and dismissing in late May. For families, this earlier start and revised calendar rhythm is now a district-wide fact.

A parent may want to look into further with the school what academic support or intervention structures exist, given the proficiency results, and to understand how the planned STEAM and IB expansion to middle school will affect this building's course offerings in the coming years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 62%

School 2% · District 14% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 75%

School 5% · District 16% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 16% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 33% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 29% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 34% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Science

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 26% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

This schoolRockford SD 205, 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.