The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in English language arts. The lowest is 42% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Williamsfield Middle School
Williamsfield Middle School serves grades five through eight in a small farming village in eastern Knox County, about a mile east of Galesburg. The school is part of Williamsfield CUSD 210, a unified district that also runs the elementary and high schools on the same Kentucky Avenue campus. The building itself sits near the Williamsfield Public Library and Doubet-Benjamin Park, anchoring what is truly a village-scale school and civic life.
The school enrolls roughly 70 students, with the largest class in grade seven and smaller cohorts in grade six. The student body is predominantly white, with just a handful of students from other backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price lunch rates were not available, so parents may want to contact the school directly about the socioeconomic profile of the community. Similarly, data on special education enrollment and English learner enrollment were not reported, so a parent seeking that information should ask the district.
On state testing, the school shows uneven performance across grades and subjects. In English language arts, the school is stronger in the upper grades, with seventh graders reaching proficiency at a notably higher rate and eighth graders also performing respectably. Fifth grade ELA is solid. Sixth grade is weaker, and grades three and four had no reported results, likely because the school's fifth through eighth grade band means those younger grades are not part of this building. In mathematics, the picture is more mixed. Seventh grade shows the strongest performance in math; sixth grade is considerably weaker. Fifth grade math falls in the middle. Eighth grade math proficiency is notably low, marking a concerning dip at the school's oldest grade level. Science testing covers only grades five and eight, with fifth grade at roughly the same level as its math results and eighth grade significantly stronger. When these results are averaged across all tested grades and subjects, Williamsfield Middle lands in the top quartile among the eight districts in Knox County, a meaningful strength. However, the volatility by grade, particularly the decline in eighth grade math, suggests a parent may want to look into further with the school what is driving those shifts and what support exists for students in the older grades.
No graduation data applies because the school does not serve high school. No attendance or discipline data was available.
The surrounding community is a tight-knit village of roughly 1,000 people on flat agricultural land. The economy centers on farming and agribusiness, with educational services, health care, and manufacturing as common employment sectors. Many residents commute to Galesburg or the Peoria area for work. The village has experienced minimal population change in recent years, but the local development organization WADCO has actively worked to attract new families through housing development and community improvements such as wayfinding signs and beautification. The public library, a few blocks from the school, offers meeting space, Wi-Fi, and Chromebooks and serves as a community resource. There is no fixed-route public transit; travel by car is essential.
Housing in the zip code is modestly valued relative to Illinois and national benchmarks, and mortgage affordability is above average for the state, meaning the cost of entry for families considering the area is relatively low. This likely reflects both the rural character and modest population size.
The school appears to be a place where a middle-grade student would experience a small, close-knit peer environment rooted in a stable agricultural community, with academic performance that is solid on balance but uneven by grade level, particularly in mathematics. A parent considering this school should ask the district directly about curriculum changes, teacher stability, and what specific interventions support students in eighth grade math.
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