Enrollment
156
Illinois · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Ford Heights, IL
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center
Federal NCES profile for Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 51/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 171095005419
👥 S:T ratio 48
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 38
📋 Attendance 89
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center earns 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Illinois median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Illinois schools.
- 51
- Resource Index · Higher
- 13:1
- students per teacher
- 156
- students enrolled
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center has class sizes near the Illinois median. Computed live against every Illinois school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Ford Heights Sd 169 · Illinois
NCES ID 171095005419 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
12.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13:1
vs 14:1 Illinois avg
-7% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center compares with Illinois and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center is a small elementary school in Ford Heights, Illinois, enrolling 156 students.
At 13:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Illinois median, within a few percentage points of the 14:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Enrollment of 156 puts it in the smaller third of Illinois schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 3,845 scored Illinois schools.
Its student body is predominantly African American (93% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 13/100).
Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 312 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.
Attendance holds up well here: only 4.5% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
The surrounding Ford Heights Sd 169 spends $25,696 per pupil, 51% above the Illinois average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 27.8% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Its district, Ford Heights Sd 169, also runs Medgar Evers Primary Acadmc Cntr (306 students).
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center compares
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center on the metrics families compare, against Illinois and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Illinois | Illinois avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 13:1 | ▼ 7% | 14:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 156 | top 88% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13:1
Leaner classes than 67% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
156
Bigger than 15% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
13:1
students per teacher
- 7% below state mean
Top 42% in Illinois - lower ratio than 58% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
4.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Below 5%, comfortably under the pre-pandemic national baseline for chronic absenteeism.
Funding equity
$25,696
per pupil, district-wide
- above Illinois avg of $17,042
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 5 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
African American 92.9%
Hispanic or Latino 7.1%
Largest group: African American at 92.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 13.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 13.2, Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center is less mixed than the Illinois school average of 38.9.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Ford Heights Sd 169, which includes Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center.
$25,696
Per student
+51%
vs Illinois
Avg $17,042
+55%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 46.7%
State 25.5%
Federal 27.8%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medgar Evers Primary Acadmc Cntr | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 306
- Students per teacher
- 20.4:1
- Resource Index
- 12/100
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Illinois, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~156 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~13:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center's federal record.
- Compare Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center against another school. Compare schools
- Ford Heights Sd 169's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center
How many students attend Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center?
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center has 156 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Ford Heights, IL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center?
The student-teacher ratio at Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center is 13:1, which is 7% lower than the Illinois average of 14:1 and 17% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center?
The largest demographic group at Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center is African American at 92.9% of enrollment, in Ford Heights, IL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center?
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center has a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center a good school?
Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center earns 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Illinois median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Illinois schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Ford Heights Sd 169?
Besides Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center, Ford Heights Sd 169 also operates Medgar Evers Primary Acadmc Cntr (306 students). See the Ford Heights Sd 169 district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.