Is Charleston High School a good school?

Charleston High School ranks 238 th of 697 Illinois high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Charleston High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 780 students attended Charleston High School.

What is the racial makeup of Charleston High School?

Students at Charleston High School are 81% White, 7% Two or more races, 6% African American, 5% Hispanic, 1% Asian.

What schools feed into Charleston High School?

Charleston High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Ashmore Elementary School Elementary : Carl Sandburg Elementary School Elementary : Mark Twain Elementary School Middle : Charleston Middle School Middle : Jefferson Elementary School

Charleston High School

Summary:

Charleston High School is a public high school serving 766 students in grades 9-12 in Charleston, Illinois. The school is part of the Charleston CUSD 1 district, which is ranked 616 out of 813 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Charleston High School has seen fluctuations in its performance over the years. While the school has performed well for African American students, ranking 68 out of 299 Illinois high schools in 2023-2024 with a 4-star rating, it has struggled with White students, ranking 408 out of 557 in 2022-2023 with a 1-star rating. The school's graduation rates have also varied, ranging from a high of 80.7% in 2019-2020 to a low of 67.8% in 2022-2023. Additionally, Charleston High School has consistently high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 30.9% in 2020-2021 to 46.0% in 2022-2023, which is significantly higher than the state average.

When compared to nearby schools, such as Casey-Westfield Junior/Senior High School, Charleston High School generally performs worse in areas like graduation rates, test scores, and chronic absenteeism. This suggests that the school may be facing challenges in maintaining consistent academic and operational excellence. Addressing the root causes of these issues, such as the high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, could help Charleston High School improve its overall quality and better serve its students.

Detail:

Public 9-12

1615 Lincoln Ave
Charleston, IL 61920-3010

(217) 639-5000

District: Charleston CUSD 1

SchoolDigger Rank:
238^th of 697 Illinois High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,686

Feeder schools for Charleston High School:

Elementary:	Ashmore Elementary School
	Carl Sandburg Elementary School
	Mark Twain Elementary School
Middle:	Charleston Middle School
	Jefferson Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 16.5

Number of students: 780

Racial breakdown:

White:

81.4%

Two or more races:

6.7%

African American:

5.5%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 49.6%

See top rated Illinois high schools

Compare Charleston High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Charleston High School ranks better than 65.9% of high schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 58.18. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Charleston High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.

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 (81.4%), two or more races (6.7%), African American (5.5%). (See more...)

Compare Details 49.6% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Charleston High School is 16.5. (See more...)

Compare Charleston High School employs 47 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Charleston High School is $17,686.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Charleston High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Charleston High School 238^th of 697 Illinois public high schools. (See Charleston High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Charleston CUSD 1:

SchoolDigger ranks Charleston CUSD 1 616^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Charleston High School

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Rank History for all students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	57.53	278^th	586	52.6%
2004	54.05	307^th	592	48.1%
2005	64.25	219^th	590	62.9%
2006	58.89	266^th	596	55.4%
2007	53.38	325^th	612	46.9%
2008	83.47	80^th	624	87.2%
2009	67.42	219^th	632	65.3%
2010	66.55	226^th	643	64.9%
2011	73.76	176^th	655	73.1%
2012	75.96	149^th	665	77.6%
2013	69.66	209^th	670	68.8%
2014	68.00	210^th	670	68.7%
2015	70.84	139^th	614	77.4%
2016	64.51	147^th	643	77.1%
2017	63.97	198^th	642	69.2%
2018	67.47	185^th	647	71.4%
2019	63.24	210^th	701	70.0%
2021	47.78	314^th	688	54.4%
2022	72.90	153^rd	699	78.1%
2023	42.09	411^th	699	41.2%
2024	58.18	238^th	697	65.9%

See the entire list of Illinois High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	28.21	123^rd	182	32.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	33.71	220^th	374	41.2%
2019	34.10	274^th	473	42.1%
2021	29.28	270^th	453	40.4%
2022	31.21	286^th	493	42.0%
2023	21.07	375^th	476	21.2%
2024	46.63	184^th	482	61.8%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	56.86	214^th	585	63.4%
2019	55.14	247^th	639	61.3%
2021	38.91	357^th	611	41.6%
2022	55.17	237^th	626	62.1%
2023	44.29	351^st	644	45.5%
2024	55.05	233^rd	639	63.5%

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

Rank History for Homeless students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2021	62.90	8^th	24	66.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	61.88	214^th	620	65.5%
2019	61.43	229^th	665	65.6%
2021	42.94	343^rd	639	46.3%
2022	77.86	129^th	658	80.4%
2023	38.98	413^th	656	37.0%
2024	53.08	265^th	664	60.1%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	26.53	343^rd	428	19.9%
2024	77.74	61^st	429	85.8%

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

Rank History for Male students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	68.94	159^th	619	74.3%
2019	62.55	201^st	675	70.2%
2021	49.29	296^th	653	54.7%
2022	62.17	211^th	664	68.2%
2023	43.08	370^th	668	44.6%
2024	60.85	214^th	668	68.0%

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

Rank History for African American students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	34.42	175^th	301	41.9%
2024	60.85	68^th	299	77.3%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	56.11	109^th	336	67.6%

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

Rank History for White students at Charleston High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	54.34	214^th	548	60.9%
2019	47.02	250^th	552	54.7%
2021	31.06	364^th	553	34.2%
2022	57.53	200^th	560	64.3%
2023	29.13	408^th	557	26.8%
2024	45.12	261^st	554	52.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High 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 Charleston High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	814	5	12	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	835
1989	816	6	9	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	831
1990	800	4	11	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	819
1991	861	11	10	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	887
1992	903	12	11	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	933
1993	919	13	3	3	0	n/a	n/a	0	938
1994	965	26	22	3	8	n/a	n/a	0	1024
1995	938	24	13	4	1	n/a	n/a	0	980
1996	938	24	13	4	1	n/a	n/a	0	980
1997	917	22	14	12	2	n/a	n/a	0	967
1998	910	11	10	16	2	n/a	n/a	0	949
1999	909	18	12	10	0	n/a	n/a	0	949
2000	942	17	7	11	1	n/a	n/a	0	978
2001	921	23	17	5	1	n/a	n/a	0	967
2002	889	13	13	8	2	n/a	n/a	0	925
2003	889	13	13	8	2	n/a	n/a	0	925
2004	870	20	13	7	1	n/a	n/a	0	911
2005	847	27	12	14	1	n/a	n/a	3	904
2006	851	27	7	10	0	n/a	n/a	6	901
2007	822	34	8	14	0	n/a	n/a	24	902
2008	783	34	9	17	3	n/a	n/a	17	863
2009	761	31	6	14	1	n/a	n/a	25	838
2010	733	23	9	14	1	n/a	n/a	29	809
2011	754	21	7	6	4	0	36	0	828
2012	749	28	8	7	3	0	28	0	823
2013	720	22	7	9	6	0	8	0	772
2014	728	20	11	11	5	0	9	0	784
2015	731	22	11	14	6	0	7	0	791
2016	706	24	8	35	5	0	20	0	798
2017	717	26	6	38	3	0	16	0	806
2018	697	32	10	40	2	0	22	0	803
2019	707	32	8	33	2	0	29	0	811
2020	683	36	10	27	1	0	24	0	781
2021	683	40	15	30	2	0	31	0	801
2022	672	43	11	37	1	0	42	0	806
2023	626	46	11	35	1	1	46	0	766
2024	635	43	10	38	1	1	52	0	780

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 Charleston High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	835	46.8	17.8	n/a
1989	831	48.0	17.3	n/a
1990	819	47.9	17.0	n/a
1991	887	47.9	18.5	n/a
1992	933	51.6	18.0	n/a
1993	938	53.0	17.7	n/a
1994	1024	53.9	19.0	n/a
1995	980	50.7	19.3	n/a
1996	980	50.7	19.3	n/a
1997	967	52.7	18.3	n/a
1998	949	53.1	17.9	n/a
1999	949	55.2	17.2	n/a
2000	978	55.8	17.5	n/a
2001	967	57.5	16.8	n/a
2002	925	57.5	16.1	17.9
2003	925	57.5	16.1	17.9
2004	911	57.5	15.8	19.9
2005	904	55.0	16.4	21.2
2006	901	53.5	16.8	23.7
2007	902	45.0	20.0	27.3
2008	863	40.0	21.6	29.4
2009	838	53.0	15.8	33.9
2010	809	50.0	16.1	32.1
2011	828	46.0	17.9	37
2012	823	47.0	17.5	32.2
2013	772	79.4	9.7	34.3
2014	784	50.0	15.6	35.7
2015	791	50.0	15.8	40.8
2016	798	47.0	16.9	36.5
2017	806	47.0	17.1	39.3
2018	803	47.1	17.0	37.4
2019	811	44.4	18.2	39.7
2020	781	47.1	16.5	39.1
2021	801	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	806	46.2	17.4	42.4
2023	766	48.5	15.7	46.7
2024	780	47.0	16.5	49.6

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 Charleston High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	835	46.8	17.8	n/a
1989	831	48.0	17.3	n/a
1990	819	47.9	17.0	n/a
1991	887	47.9	18.5	n/a
1992	933	51.6	18.0	n/a
1993	938	53.0	17.7	n/a
1994	1024	53.9	19.0	n/a
1995	980	50.7	19.3	n/a
1996	980	50.7	19.3	n/a
1997	967	52.7	18.3	n/a
1998	949	53.1	17.9	n/a
1999	949	55.2	17.2	n/a
2000	978	55.8	17.5	n/a
2001	967	57.5	16.8	n/a
2002	925	57.5	16.1	17.9
2003	925	57.5	16.1	17.9
2004	911	57.5	15.8	19.9
2005	904	55.0	16.4	21.2
2006	901	53.5	16.8	23.7
2007	902	45.0	20.0	27.3
2008	863	40.0	21.6	29.4
2009	838	53.0	15.8	33.9
2010	809	50.0	16.1	32.1
2011	828	46.0	17.9	37
2012	823	47.0	17.5	32.2
2013	772	79.4	9.7	34.3
2014	784	50.0	15.6	35.7
2015	791	50.0	15.8	40.8
2016	798	47.0	16.9	36.5
2017	806	47.0	17.1	39.3
2018	803	47.1	17.0	37.4
2019	811	44.4	18.2	39.7
2020	781	47.1	16.5	39.1
2021	801	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	806	46.2	17.4	42.4
2023	766	48.5	15.7	46.7
2024	780	47.0	16.5	49.6

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