Is Founders Elementary School a good school?

Founders Elementary School ranks in the bottom 19.4% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Founders Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 543 students attended Founders Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Founders Elementary School?

Students at Founders Elementary School are 41% Hispanic, 29% African American, 21% White, 8% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Founders Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Founders Elementary School usually go on to attend: High : DeKalb High School

Founders Elementary School

Summary:

Founders Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Dekalb, Illinois, serving grades K-5 with a total enrollment of 556 students. The school is part of the DeKalb CUSD 428 district, which is ranked 747 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Founders Elementary has consistently been ranked in the bottom half of Illinois elementary schools, maintaining a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger for most of the past 10 years. The school significantly underperforms the state and district averages on standardized tests, with only 13.4% of students proficient or better in ELA and 10.9% proficient in math, compared to 17.1% and 12.4% for the district, and 41.2% and 28.4% statewide. Founders Elementary also struggles with high chronic absenteeism rates, reaching 19.4% in 2023-2024, significantly higher than the state average of 15-17%.

While Founders Elementary spends $16,014 per student, which is higher than the state average, the school's academic outcomes lag behind nearby Sycamore CUSD 427 schools, such as West Elementary, Southeast Elementary, and South Prairie Elementary, which have higher proficiency rates and lower chronic absenteeism. This suggests that factors beyond just funding, such as instructional quality, school leadership, and student/family engagement, may need to be addressed to improve Founders Elementary's performance.

Detail:

Public K-5

821 S 7th St
Dekalb, IL 60115-4572

(815) 754-3800

District: DeKalb CUSD 428

SchoolDigger Rank:
1665^th of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,933

Students who attend Founders Elementary School usually attend:

High:

DeKalb High School

Student/teacher ratio: 15.1

Number of students: 543

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

40.7%

African American:

29.5%

White:

21.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 76.2%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Founders Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Founders Elementary School ranks worse than 80.6% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks 4^th among 8 ranked elementary schools in the DeKalb CUSD 428 School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 20.54. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Founders Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the DeKalb CUSD 428 School District. Student population at Founders Elementary School is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (40.7%), African American (29.5%), White (21.4%). (See more...)

Compare Details 76.2% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Founders Elementary School is 15.1. 5 elementary schools in the DeKalb CUSD 428 School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Founders Elementary School employs 35.8 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Founders Elementary School is $17,933. 7 elementary schools in the DeKalb CUSD 428 School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Founders Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Founders Elementary School 1665^th of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Founders Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

DeKalb CUSD 428:

SchoolDigger ranks DeKalb CUSD 428 747^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Founders Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2014	31.29	1509^th	2093	27.9%
2015	41.21	1104^th	2052	46.2%
2016	34.93	1290^th	2046	37.0%
2017	17.38	1757^th	2044	14.0%
2018	12.00	1908^th	2037	6.3%
2019	20.66	1704^th	2086	18.3%
2021	17.33	1670^th	1948	14.3%
2022	17.08	1777^th	2082	14.6%
2023	18.57	1731^st	2077	16.7%
2024	20.54	1665^th	2067	19.4%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.89	628^th	718	12.5%
2019	22.61	705^th	743	5.1%
2021	24.85	508^th	537	5.4%
2022	24.27	714^th	768	7.0%
2023	28.46	663^rd	788	15.9%
2024	27.16	696^th	826	15.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	25.61	611^th	763	19.9%
2019	32.10	782^nd	1194	34.5%
2022	28.09	823^rd	1113	26.1%
2023	34.25	706^th	1156	38.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.68	1739^th	1765	1.5%
2019	22.45	1587^th	1816	12.6%
2021	23.81	1273^rd	1514	15.9%
2022	20.92	1547^th	1763	12.3%
2023	24.31	1500^th	1808	17.0%
2024	26.74	1407^th	1793	21.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.24	1869^th	1964	4.8%
2019	19.06	1719^th	2019	14.9%
2021	15.73	1505^th	1680	10.4%
2022	18.48	1648^th	1970	16.3%
2023	18.39	1662^nd	1957	15.1%
2024	23.13	1503^rd	1942	22.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	37.71	496^th	907	45.3%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	14.55	1796^th	1972	8.9%
2019	23.72	1571^st	2019	22.2%
2021	17.41	1478^th	1707	13.4%
2022	16.88	1729^th	1977	12.5%
2023	20.58	1576^th	1984	20.6%
2024	19.81	1587^th	1959	19.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	21.79	646^th	698	7.4%
2019	26.39	587^th	711	17.4%
2022	22.90	645^th	684	5.7%
2023	25.64	583^rd	692	15.8%
2024	24.08	577^th	655	11.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.85	929^th	938	1.0%
2019	23.27	820^th	955	14.1%
2021	19.45	712^th	742	4.0%
2022	14.96	939^th	954	1.6%
2023	21.18	870^th	970	10.3%
2024	24.36	779^th	959	18.8%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Founders Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	11.94	1377^th	1463	5.9%
2019	21.21	1231^st	1462	15.8%
2021	16.97	1188^th	1308	9.2%
2022	32.20	1021^st	1425	28.4%
2023	46.75	756^th	1419	46.7%
2024	34.46	957^th	1392	31.3%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Founders Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Total
2012	308	51	2	204	2	0	20	587
2013	306	60	2	221	3	0	23	615
2014	302	62	3	223	3	0	30	623
2015	250	63	1	239	1	0	27	581
2016	236	60	2	231	2	0	31	562
2017	199	116	4	239	1	0	34	593
2018	172	125	2	245	1	0	41	586
2019	155	144	2	254	1	0	34	590
2020	154	153	3	248	1	0	49	608
2021	132	155	2	231	0	0	44	564
2022	136	170	0	234	1	0	50	591
2023	122	161	1	226	3	0	43	556
2024	116	160	2	221	2	1	41	543

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Founders Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
2012	587	30.0	19.5	53.3
2013	615	41.0	14.9	58.7
2014	623	30.9	20.1	59.2
2015	581	34.0	17.0	65.9
2016	562	31.0	18.1	63
2017	593	34.8	17.0	74
2018	586	37.6	15.5	77.5
2019	590	36.3	16.2	76.8
2020	608	38.1	15.9	75.8
2021	564	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	591	38.3	15.4	71.9
2023	556	39.2	14.1	73.9
2024	543	35.8	15.1	76.2

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Founders Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
2012	587	30.0	19.5	53.3
2013	615	41.0	14.9	58.7
2014	623	30.9	20.1	59.2
2015	581	34.0	17.0	65.9
2016	562	31.0	18.1	63
2017	593	34.8	17.0	74
2018	586	37.6	15.5	77.5
2019	590	36.3	16.2	76.8
2020	608	38.1	15.9	75.8
2021	564	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	591	38.3	15.4	71.9
2023	556	39.2	14.1	73.9
2024	543	35.8	15.1	76.2

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Immunization Rates