Is Larsen Middle School a good school?

Larsen Middle School ranks in the bottom 23.1% of Illinois middle schools.

How many students attend Larsen Middle School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 611 students attended Larsen Middle School.

What is the racial makeup of Larsen Middle School?

Students at Larsen Middle School are 75% Hispanic, 9% White, 6% Asian, 5% African American, 4% Two or more races.

What high school do graduates of Larsen Middle School attend?

Students who attend Larsen Middle School usually go on to attend Elgin High School

Larsen Middle School

Summary:

Larsen Middle School is a public middle school located in Elgin, Illinois, serving grades 7-8 with a total enrollment of 611 students. The school is part of the School District U-46, which is ranked 578 out of 813 school districts in Illinois and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Larsen Middle School has consistently been ranked in the bottom half of Illinois middle schools, with a ranking between 690 and 1,048 over the past 10 years, and has a 1- or 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Larsen Middle School consistently underperforms compared to the state and district averages in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. In the 2023-2024 school year, only 21.6% of Larsen students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 30.7% in the district and 41.2% statewide. In Mathematics, only 12.3% of Larsen students were proficient or better, compared to 21.7% in the district and 28.4% statewide. Additionally, Larsen Middle School has a significantly higher chronic absenteeism rate of 28.0% compared to the district average of 24.4% and the state average of 17.6%. The school also struggles to support the academic achievement of several student subgroups, ranking in the bottom half of Illinois middle schools for Hispanic, English Language Learner, Special Education, and Low Socioeconomic Status students.

Interestingly, Larsen Middle School's academic performance and other key metrics are significantly lower than those of nearby schools within the same district, such as Eastview Middle School and Kenyon Woods Middle School, which have higher proficiency rates, lower chronic absenteeism, and better overall rankings. The relatively high per-student spending of $16,570 at Larsen Middle School, which is higher than the district average of $13,641 and the state average of $13,334, suggests that resources alone may not be the primary driver of student outcomes. This presents an opportunity for the school and district to implement targeted interventions and strategies to improve student success, particularly in addressing chronic absenteeism and supporting the academic needs of underperforming subgroups.

Detail:

Public 7-8

665 Dundee Ave
Elgin, IL 60120-3820

(847) 888-5250

District: School District U-46

SchoolDigger Rank:
1048^th of 1,363 Illinois Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $18,909

Students who attend Larsen Middle School usually attend:

High:

Elgin High School

Feeder schools for Larsen Middle School:

Elementary:	Coleman Elementary School
	Lincoln Elementary School
	McKinley Elementary School
	Timber Trails Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 14.7

Number of students: 611

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

75.0%

White:

9.0%

Asian:

5.6%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 56.8%

See top rated Illinois middle schools

Compare Larsen Middle School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Larsen Middle School ranks worse than 76.9% of middle schools in Illinois. It also ranks 6^th among 8 ranked middle schools in the School District U-46. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 22.6. (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 Larsen Middle School has the largest middle school student body size in the School District U-46. (See more...)

Compare Details

Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Larsen Middle School is $18,909, which is the 4^th highest among 8 middle schools in the School District U-46.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Larsen Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Larsen Middle School 1048^th of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Larsen Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

Asian students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

School District U-46:

SchoolDigger ranks School District U-46 578^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Larsen Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	18.23	962^nd	1185	18.8%
2004	22.05	952^nd	1204	20.9%
2005	25.15	931^st	1209	23.0%
2006	35.73	921^st	1272	27.6%
2007	48.42	786^th	1287	38.9%
2008	41.20	864^th	1293	33.2%
2009	37.40	942^nd	1318	28.5%
2010	42.12	898^th	1327	32.3%
2011	34.24	997^th	1344	25.8%
2012	35.77	981^st	1365	28.1%
2013	32.97	977^th	1367	28.5%
2014	26.88	1015^th	1322	23.2%
2015	41.32	690^th	1302	47.0%
2016	34.05	831^st	1294	35.8%
2017	31.25	878^th	1293	32.1%
2018	36.75	785^th	1293	39.3%
2019	35.63	837^th	1356	38.3%
2022	28.67	936^th	1369	31.6%
2023	24.22	1022^nd	1367	25.2%
2024	22.60	1048^th	1363	23.1%

See the entire list of Illinois Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	48.86	83^rd	164	49.4%
2022	21.44	160^th	195	17.9%
2023	24.26	142^nd	194	26.8%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	35.18	201^st	285	29.5%
2019	35.29	255^th	339	24.8%
2022	36.14	308^th	454	32.2%
2023	50.99	149^th	480	69.0%
2024	25.89	437^th	486	10.1%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	27.50	465^th	602	22.8%
2019	26.80	660^th	792	16.7%
2022	31.43	563^rd	781	27.9%
2023	23.78	670^th	805	16.8%
2024	28.52	578^th	802	27.9%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	40.36	688^th	1161	40.7%
2019	34.18	829^th	1217	31.9%
2022	29.74	891^st	1221	27.0%
2023	22.02	1046^th	1234	15.2%
2024	20.21	1054^th	1219	13.5%

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

Rank History for Female students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	35.93	775^th	1226	36.8%
2019	34.32	840^th	1276	34.2%
2022	28.82	883^rd	1286	31.3%
2023	18.67	1058^th	1275	17.0%
2024	18.97	1035^th	1251	17.3%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	28.80	506^th	674	24.9%
2024	25.97	538^th	639	15.8%

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

Rank History for Male students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	36.27	738^th	1223	39.7%
2019	37.18	768^th	1296	40.7%
2022	29.37	878^th	1286	31.7%
2023	31.20	847^th	1292	34.4%
2024	27.38	878^th	1264	30.5%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	43.66	124^th	209	40.7%
2019	53.13	100^th	201	50.2%
2022	39.43	127^th	198	35.9%
2023	69.24	55^th	192	71.4%
2024	65.30	63^rd	184	65.8%

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

Rank History for African American students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	44.80	235^th	511	54.0%
2019	43.27	283^rd	565	49.9%
2022	38.00	319^th	573	44.3%
2023	37.59	332^nd	569	41.7%
2024	29.37	395^th	548	27.9%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	29.45	446^th	590	24.4%
2019	27.59	501^st	639	21.6%
2022	20.70	588^th	662	11.2%
2023	17.88	601^st	661	9.1%
2024	15.92	597^th	643	7.2%

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

Rank History for Native American students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	44.26	3^rd	4	25.0%

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

Rank History for White students at Larsen Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	44.03	488^th	889	45.1%
2019	56.15	370^th	905	59.1%
2022	40.55	512^th	898	43.0%
2023	35.03	589^th	895	34.2%
2024	47.46	451^st	875	48.5%

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 Larsen Middle School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	271	82	21	146	1	n/a	n/a	0	521
1989	304	81	21	174	1	n/a	n/a	0	581
1990	322	94	31	202	2	n/a	n/a	0	651
1991	283	93	34	236	1	n/a	n/a	0	647
1992	278	77	34	278	2	n/a	n/a	0	669
1993	312	87	36	304	0	n/a	n/a	0	739
1994	286	95	37	343	0	n/a	n/a	0	761
1995	252	75	54	425	0	n/a	n/a	0	806
1996	252	75	54	425	0	n/a	n/a	0	806
1997	245	70	48	368	0	n/a	n/a	0	731
1998	230	60	33	405	0	n/a	n/a	0	728
1999	230	64	28	362	1	n/a	n/a	0	685
2000	225	54	27	378	1	n/a	n/a	0	685
2001	214	64	30	444	1	n/a	n/a	0	753
2002	206	67	36	475	1	n/a	n/a	0	785
2003	206	67	36	475	1	n/a	n/a	0	785
2004	180	56	29	345	0	n/a	n/a	0	610
2005	137	63	23	313	0	n/a	n/a	0	536
2006	149	57	27	343	0	n/a	n/a	3	579
2007	153	60	23	326	0	n/a	n/a	3	565
2008	129	54	30	436	0	n/a	n/a	8	657
2009	130	43	32	477	2	n/a	n/a	15	699
2010	124	40	29	434	1	n/a	n/a	19	647
2011	91	35	33	473	5	0	14	0	651
2012	95	40	44	464	4	0	18	0	665
2013	108	37	44	479	5	0	15	0	688
2014	98	45	44	510	7	0	16	0	720
2015	92	50	43	499	5	0	20	0	709
2016	91	43	44	479	4	0	23	0	684
2017	79	38	57	500	4	1	28	0	707
2018	74	38	53	481	7	1	25	0	679
2019	61	41	50	457	7	0	18	0	634
2020	54	37	51	488	13	0	11	0	654
2021	77	26	43	449	31	1	15	0	642
2022	83	31	46	462	20	1	30	0	673
2023	55	33	34	458	4	0	27	0	611

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 Larsen Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	521	35.2	14.8	n/a
1989	581	34.0	17.0	n/a
1990	651	39.0	16.6	n/a
1991	647	38.0	17.0	n/a
1992	669	42.0	15.9	n/a
1993	739	44.3	16.7	n/a
1994	761	44.8	17.0	n/a
1995	806	49.8	16.2	n/a
1996	806	49.8	16.2	n/a
1997	731	49.9	14.6	n/a
1998	728	54.2	13.4	n/a
1999	685	49.8	13.8	n/a
2000	685	52.9	12.9	n/a
2001	753	59.7	12.6	n/a
2002	785	63.6	12.3	50.1
2003	785	63.6	12.3	50.1
2004	610	38.6	15.8	53.9
2005	536	41.0	13.1	63.4
2006	579	38.0	15.2	61.6
2007	565	34.0	16.6	66.4
2008	657	46.0	14.3	68.6
2009	699	47.4	14.7	74.6
2010	647	49.6	13.0	76.4
2011	651	40.0	16.2	77.1
2012	665	40.0	16.6	75
2013	688	51.9	13.2	78.9
2014	720	48.9	14.7	79.6
2015	709	48.0	14.7	78.6
2016	684	45.0	15.2	72.5
2017	707	44.5	15.8	74.5
2018	679	42.3	16.0	73.6
2019	634	39.4	16.0	74.8
2020	654	42.3	15.4	75.4
2021	642	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	673	44.2	15.2	53.9
2023	611	41.4	14.7	56.8

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 Larsen Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	521	35.2	14.8	n/a
1989	581	34.0	17.0	n/a
1990	651	39.0	16.6	n/a
1991	647	38.0	17.0	n/a
1992	669	42.0	15.9	n/a
1993	739	44.3	16.7	n/a
1994	761	44.8	17.0	n/a
1995	806	49.8	16.2	n/a
1996	806	49.8	16.2	n/a
1997	731	49.9	14.6	n/a
1998	728	54.2	13.4	n/a
1999	685	49.8	13.8	n/a
2000	685	52.9	12.9	n/a
2001	753	59.7	12.6	n/a
2002	785	63.6	12.3	50.1
2003	785	63.6	12.3	50.1
2004	610	38.6	15.8	53.9
2005	536	41.0	13.1	63.4
2006	579	38.0	15.2	61.6
2007	565	34.0	16.6	66.4
2008	657	46.0	14.3	68.6
2009	699	47.4	14.7	74.6
2010	647	49.6	13.0	76.4
2011	651	40.0	16.2	77.1
2012	665	40.0	16.6	75
2013	688	51.9	13.2	78.9
2014	720	48.9	14.7	79.6
2015	709	48.0	14.7	78.6
2016	684	45.0	15.2	72.5
2017	707	44.5	15.8	74.5
2018	679	42.3	16.0	73.6
2019	634	39.4	16.0	74.8
2020	654	42.3	15.4	75.4
2021	642	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	673	44.2	15.2	53.9
2023	611	41.4	14.7	56.8

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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