Is Prairie Central Junior High School a good school?

Prairie Central Junior High School ranks 618 th of 1363 Illinois middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Prairie Central Junior High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 232 students attended Prairie Central Junior High School.

What is the racial makeup of Prairie Central Junior High School?

Students at Prairie Central Junior High School are 85% White, 10% Hispanic, 3% Two or more races, 1% Asian.

What high school do graduates of Prairie Central Junior High School attend?

Students who attend Prairie Central Junior High School usually go on to attend Prairie Central High School

Prairie Central Junior High School

Summary:

Prairie Central Junior High School is a public middle school located in Forrest, Illinois, serving grades 7-8 with a total enrollment of 228 students. The school is part of the Prairie Central CUSD 8 district, which is ranked 466 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Prairie Central Junior High School has consistently ranked in the top 30% of Illinois middle schools over the past 10 years, with a current ranking of 618 out of 1,363 schools. The school's performance on state assessments is generally on par with or slightly below the state and district averages, with some notable exceptions. In 2023-2024, the school's 8th-grade ELA proficiency rate (40.3%) was significantly lower than the state average (49.9%), and the 7th-grade math proficiency rate (20.5%) was also significantly lower than the state average (28.7%). However, the school's science proficiency rate (62.2%) was notably higher than the state average (53.2%). The school's performance varies across different student subgroups, with female students generally performing better than male students, and disabled students being a particular strength, with the school ranking in the top 12% of Illinois middle schools for this subgroup.

Compared to nearby schools, Prairie Central Upper Elementary, a school within the same district, outperforms Prairie Central Junior High School on state assessments, particularly in ELA and science. GCMS Middle School, a school in the neighboring Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley CUSD 5 district, consistently outperforms Prairie Central Junior High School on state assessments and has a higher overall ranking. However, Ridgeview Junior High School and Pontiac Junior High School, both in nearby districts, have significantly lower academic performance compared to Prairie Central Junior High School.

Detail:

Public 7-8

800 N Wood St
Forrest, IL 61741

(815) 657-8660

District: Prairie Central CUSD 8

SchoolDigger Rank:
618^th of 1,363 Illinois Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $15,256

Students who attend Prairie Central Junior High School usually attend:

High:

Prairie Central High School

Feeder schools for Prairie Central Junior High School:

Elementary:	Prairie Central Elementary School
	Prairie Central Primary East
	Prairie Central Primary West

Student/teacher ratio: 10.5

Number of students: 232

Racial breakdown:

White:

84.9%

Hispanic:

9.9%

Two or more races:

3.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 47%

See top rated Illinois middle schools

Compare Prairie Central Junior High School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Prairie Central Junior High School ranks better than 54.7% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 47.82. (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 Racial makeup is: White (84.9%), Hispanic (9.9%), two or more races (3.4%). (See more...)

Compare Details 47% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Prairie Central Junior High School is 10.5. (See more...)

Compare Prairie Central Junior High School employs 22 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Prairie Central Junior High School is $15,256.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Prairie Central Junior High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Prairie Central Junior High School 618^th of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Prairie Central Junior High School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Prairie Central CUSD 8:

SchoolDigger ranks Prairie Central CUSD 8 466^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Prairie Central Junior High School

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Rank History for all students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	69.80	385^th	1185	67.5%
2004	78.33	258^th	1204	78.6%
2005	70.52	398^th	1209	67.1%
2006	74.25	320^th	1272	74.8%
2007	69.61	405^th	1287	68.5%
2008	73.71	341^st	1293	73.6%
2009	73.95	333^rd	1318	74.7%
2010	75.32	306^th	1327	76.9%
2011	75.33	296^th	1344	78.0%
2012	74.90	315^th	1365	76.9%
2013	65.44	448^th	1367	67.2%
2014	79.98	226^th	1322	82.9%
2015	62.60	383^rd	1302	70.6%
2016	76.14	249^th	1294	80.8%
2017	68.15	335^th	1293	74.1%
2018	72.19	299^th	1293	76.9%
2019	74.44	295^th	1356	78.2%
2021	67.36	324^th	1241	73.9%
2022	67.01	368^th	1369	73.1%
2023	64.17	397^th	1367	71.0%
2024	47.82	618^th	1363	54.7%

See the entire list of Illinois Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	45.47	245^th	602	59.3%
2019	30.82	553^rd	792	30.2%
2021	34.40	343^rd	548	37.4%
2022	52.62	209^th	781	73.2%
2023	52.81	250^th	805	68.9%
2024	46.40	328^th	802	59.1%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	59.26	376^th	1161	67.6%
2019	65.21	314^th	1217	74.2%
2021	70.05	164^th	1019	83.9%
2022	58.21	383^rd	1221	68.6%
2023	56.96	414^th	1234	66.5%
2024	40.89	685^th	1219	43.8%

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

Rank History for Female students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	72.09	279^th	1226	77.2%
2019	69.60	336^th	1276	73.7%
2021	62.46	316^th	1017	68.9%
2022	65.13	358^th	1286	72.2%
2023	62.78	387^th	1275	69.6%
2024	46.92	600^th	1251	52.0%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	81.28	52^nd	674	92.3%
2024	74.20	79^th	639	87.6%

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

Rank History for Male students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	71.24	278^th	1223	77.3%
2019	76.42	246^th	1296	81.0%
2021	64.82	277^th	1048	73.6%
2022	67.73	319^th	1286	75.2%
2023	63.69	372^nd	1292	71.2%
2024	48.39	565^th	1264	55.3%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2022	34.06	434^th	662	34.4%
2023	41.73	354^th	661	46.4%
2024	16.43	592^nd	643	7.9%

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

Rank History for White students at Prairie Central Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	56.81	358^th	889	59.7%
2019	58.06	351^st	905	61.2%
2021	57.07	311^th	813	61.7%
2022	54.36	381^st	898	57.6%
2023	49.84	411^th	895	54.1%
2024	32.82	596^th	875	31.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle 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 Prairie Central Junior High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	280	n/a	1	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	285
1990	262	n/a	1	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	267
1991	273	0	1	6	0	n/a	n/a	0	280
1992	265	0	2	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	271
1993	301	1	1	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	307
1994	311	2	0	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	317
1995	325	1	0	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	330
1996	325	1	0	4	0	n/a	n/a	0	330
1997	340	1	0	9	0	n/a	n/a	0	350
1998	345	3	0	13	0	n/a	n/a	0	361
1999	339	4	0	8	0	n/a	n/a	0	351
2000	323	5	3	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	342
2001	309	3	0	13	0	n/a	n/a	0	325
2002	284	3	1	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	299
2003	284	3	1	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	299
2004	289	3	4	16	1	n/a	n/a	0	313
2005	342	2	3	16	1	n/a	n/a	0	364
2006	321	0	0	7	0	n/a	n/a	7	335
2007	303	2	0	8	0	n/a	n/a	8	321
2008	310	1	1	3	1	n/a	n/a	11	327
2009	300	2	0	5	1	n/a	n/a	13	321
2010	267	3	1	4	0	n/a	n/a	16	291
2011	262	3	4	8	0	0	15	0	292
2012	296	3	4	10	0	0	8	0	321
2013	306	5	2	8	0	0	11	0	332
2014	276	4	1	8	0	1	18	0	308
2015	262	3	1	13	0	0	17	0	296
2016	276	3	2	6	0	1	18	0	306
2017	256	2	2	4	0	3	15	0	282
2018	236	5	0	5	1	2	14	0	263
2019	257	2	3	10	1	0	18	0	291
2020	252	6	4	16	0	0	7	0	285
2021	223	5	2	16	0	0	5	0	251
2022	214	3	3	28	0	0	6	0	254
2023	193	1	4	24	1	0	5	0	228
2024	197	0	3	23	1	0	8	0	232

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 Prairie Central Junior High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	285	18.5	15.4	n/a
1990	267	17.5	15.2	n/a
1991	280	17.5	16.0	n/a
1992	271	16.5	16.4	n/a
1993	307	17.8	17.2	n/a
1994	317	19.0	16.7	n/a
1995	330	20.8	15.9	n/a
1996	330	20.8	15.9	n/a
1997	350	20.8	16.8	n/a
1998	361	20.8	17.4	n/a
1999	351	22.8	15.4	n/a
2000	342	21.8	15.7	n/a
2001	325	21.8	14.9	n/a
2002	299	23.8	12.6	29.1
2003	299	23.8	12.6	29.1
2004	313	23.8	13.2	24.6
2005	364	24.8	14.7	30.2
2006	335	24.3	13.8	29.9
2007	321	20.0	16.1	34.2
2008	327	18.0	18.2	34.8
2009	321	23.3	13.8	36.4
2010	291	23.0	12.6	39.6
2011	292	22.0	13.2	41.4
2012	321	20.2	15.8	41.7
2013	332	n/a	n/a	41
2014	308	19.0	16.2	43.5
2015	296	20.0	14.8	42.9
2016	306	21.0	14.5	38.9
2017	282	22.6	12.4	37.6
2018	263	21.1	12.4	45.2
2019	291	21.0	13.8	38.8
2020	285	20.4	13.9	38.2
2021	251	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	254	20.5	12.3	42.1
2023	228	20.5	11.1	42.5
2024	232	22.0	10.5	47

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 Prairie Central Junior High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	285	18.5	15.4	n/a
1990	267	17.5	15.2	n/a
1991	280	17.5	16.0	n/a
1992	271	16.5	16.4	n/a
1993	307	17.8	17.2	n/a
1994	317	19.0	16.7	n/a
1995	330	20.8	15.9	n/a
1996	330	20.8	15.9	n/a
1997	350	20.8	16.8	n/a
1998	361	20.8	17.4	n/a
1999	351	22.8	15.4	n/a
2000	342	21.8	15.7	n/a
2001	325	21.8	14.9	n/a
2002	299	23.8	12.6	29.1
2003	299	23.8	12.6	29.1
2004	313	23.8	13.2	24.6
2005	364	24.8	14.7	30.2
2006	335	24.3	13.8	29.9
2007	321	20.0	16.1	34.2
2008	327	18.0	18.2	34.8
2009	321	23.3	13.8	36.4
2010	291	23.0	12.6	39.6
2011	292	22.0	13.2	41.4
2012	321	20.2	15.8	41.7
2013	332	n/a	n/a	41
2014	308	19.0	16.2	43.5
2015	296	20.0	14.8	42.9
2016	306	21.0	14.5	38.9
2017	282	22.6	12.4	37.6
2018	263	21.1	12.4	45.2
2019	291	21.0	13.8	38.8
2020	285	20.4	13.9	38.2
2021	251	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	254	20.5	12.3	42.1
2023	228	20.5	11.1	42.5
2024	232	22.0	10.5	47

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.

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