The College Community School District is proud to announce that Prairie Ridge Elementary and Prairie View Elementary have been recognized as two of the nation’s top institutions in the 2026 Best Elementary Schools rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

This prestigious ranking evaluates nearly 47,000 public elementary schools and over 23,000 middle schools nationwide, providing state and district-level recognition.

The U.S. News methodology is designed to reflect how well schools are educating their students. It focuses primarily on student performance on state assessments, specifically those achieving proficient or above proficient levels in mathematics and reading/language arts. Importantly, the rankings also account for student backgrounds to provide a fair comparison of achievement in core subjects.

The 2026 rankings utilized publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education, encompassing academic performance across the 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 school years.

“This recognition is a testament to the dedication of our educators, the hard work of our students, and the support of our families and the entire Prairie community,” said Tracy Schipper, Executive Director of Elementary Programs. “We are incredibly proud of Prairie Ridge and Prairie View.”