Middle Schools in Joliet PSD 86

The middle schools in Joliet PSD 86, a school district in Illinois, face significant challenges in providing quality education to their students. The district includes four middle schools: Hufford Junior High School, Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm, Gompers Junior High School, and Dirksen Junior High School.

Among the middle schools, Gompers Junior High School stands out as the highest-performing, with the best proficiency rates in English Language Arts (31.7%) and Science (35.2%), as well as the lowest student-teacher ratio at 10.7. Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm also performs relatively well, with the second-highest proficiency rates in English Language Arts (20.9%) and Mathematics (9%), and a low student-teacher ratio of 14.

However, the middle schools in Joliet PSD 86 generally struggle with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 29.6% at Gompers Junior High School to 39.1% at Dirksen Junior High School. Additionally, all four middle schools have very high percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage among the student populations. Despite the higher spending per student, the middle schools in Joliet PSD 86 consistently underperform compared to the state averages in academic proficiency, suggesting the need for targeted interventions and support to address the underlying issues and improve student outcomes.