Prairiewood Elem Sch, Woodstock IL

Original Research by School Decision on Prairiewood Elem Sch

Prairiewood Elementary is a small elementary school in Woodstock, Illinois, serving grades one through five with an enrollment of about three-and-a-half hundred students. The school sits in a town anchored by a preserved 19th-century downtown and courthouse square, in an outer Chicago exurb that mixes small-town character with a working manufacturing and healthcare base.

The school's academic performance shows a mixed profile. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency is around the midpoint of what students tested can do; fourth graders perform meaningfully better; and fifth graders settle back to the lower-to-middle range. In math, proficiency drops more steeply: third-grade math proficiency is at the lower end of the scale, and by fifth grade it sits notably below fourth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade is similarly low. When averaged across these tested grades and subjects, Prairiewood's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among the school's county peers in McHenry County.

The student body is ethnically diverse. About three-fifths of students are white; about one-third are Hispanic; smaller numbers of Asian and Black students are enrolled; and very few students identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch data was not available, and the count of students with individualized education plans and English learners was not reported, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the share of students qualifying for economic assistance and the scope of special education and English-learner services.

Woodstock itself is in the middle of a development transition. The city went roughly a decade with minimal residential construction but recently approved major new subdivisions, including one bringing several hundred single-family homes, and is reviewing downtown mixed-use infill. The school district made a notable property-tax reduction in the most recent tax cycle by drawing on fund balances and completing debt payments, a signal of deliberate affordability management in a region known for high property taxes. The district also launched district-wide micro-internship and internship programs in fall 2025, connecting high school students to work-based learning, though this does not yet affect Prairiewood's elementary students. Housing values in the zip code are in the mid-range regionally, and rents are moderate.

A parent evaluating Prairiewood should understand that it is an elementary school with modest academic proficiency numbers, particularly in math and science, and with an incoming cohort of new housing growth that may shape the school's demographic and capacity context over the next several years. The school's position relative to others in its county suggests it is below the typical proficiency bar, and a parent may find it helpful to ask the school directly about reading and math support programs, any recent or planned instructional changes, and how enrollment growth is being managed.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 49% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 32% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 61% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 65% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 68% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 37%

even with state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolWoodstock CUSD 200, 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.