Is Hester Junior High School a good school?

Hester Junior High School ranks 473 rd of 1363 Illinois middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Hester Junior High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 453 students attended Hester Junior High School.

What is the racial makeup of Hester Junior High School?

Students at Hester Junior High School are 73% Hispanic, 22% White, 4% Asian, 1% African American.

What high school do graduates of Hester Junior High School attend?

Students who attend Hester Junior High School usually go on to attend East Leyden High School

Hester Junior High School

Summary:

Hester Junior High School is a public middle school located in Franklin Park, Illinois, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 446 students. The school is part of the Franklin Park School District 84, which is ranked 300 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Hester Junior High School consistently outperforms the state average in English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, with 53.6% of students proficient or better in 2023-2024 compared to the state average of 41.2%. However, the school's mathematics performance is below the state average, with only 22.9% of students proficient or better in 2023-2024 compared to the state average of 28.4%. The school's performance in science, as measured by the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA), is above the state average, with 44.7% of students proficient or better in 2023-2024 compared to the state average of 53.2%. Hester's Hispanic and White student groups perform relatively well compared to their statewide counterparts, ranking in the top 30-40% of Illinois middle schools, but the school's English Language Learner (ELL) and Special Education student groups struggle, ranking in the bottom 30-40% of Illinois middle schools. The school's Low Socioeconomic Status (SES) student group is a bright spot, ranking in the top 25-30% of Illinois middle schools in recent years.

Hester Junior High School has seen a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 7.7% in 2019-2020 to 40.3% in 2020-2021, before declining to 16.6% in 2023-2024. The school's per-student spending has increased from $11,848 in 2019-2020 to $15,239 in 2022-2023, which is higher than the state average. Hester Junior High School generally outperforms nearby schools like Irving Middle School in academic performance, particularly in ELA and science, but its mathematics performance is more in line with or slightly below nearby schools.

Detail:

Public 6-8

2836 Gustav St
Franklin Park, IL 60131-2905

(847) 455-2150

District: Franklin Park School District 84

SchoolDigger Rank:
473^rd of 1,363 Illinois Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $16,765

Students who attend Hester Junior High School usually attend:

High:

East Leyden High School

Feeder schools for Hester Junior High School:

Elementary:	Dan H Pietrini Elementary School
	North Elementary School
	Passow Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 13.2

Number of students: 453

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

73.1%

White:

21.6%

Asian:

3.5%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 57.4%

See top rated Illinois middle schools

Compare Hester Junior High School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Hester Junior High School ranks better than 65.3% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 58.28. (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: Hispanic (73.1%), White (21.6%), Asian (3.5%). (See more...)

Compare Details 57.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Hester Junior High School is 13.2. (See more...)

Compare Hester Junior High School employs 34.1 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Hester Junior High School is $16,765.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Hester Junior High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Hester Junior High School 473^rd of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Hester Junior High 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:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Franklin Park School District 84:

SchoolDigger ranks Franklin Park School District 84 300^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Hester Junior High School

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Rank History for all students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	50.62	666^th	1185	43.8%
2004	58.90	578^th	1204	52.0%
2005	63.14	531^st	1209	56.1%
2006	53.54	692^nd	1272	45.6%
2007	41.59	869^th	1287	32.5%
2008	48.56	784^th	1293	39.4%
2009	51.42	754^th	1318	42.8%
2010	60.08	611^th	1327	54.0%
2011	56.47	682^nd	1344	49.3%
2012	64.14	538^th	1365	60.6%
2013	54.87	623^rd	1367	54.4%
2014	60.35	525^th	1322	60.3%
2015	33.97	824^th	1302	36.7%
2016	60.29	435^th	1294	66.4%
2017	65.04	386^th	1293	70.1%
2018	70.49	320^th	1293	75.3%
2019	60.24	481^st	1356	64.5%
2021	59.24	397^th	1241	68.0%
2022	52.94	537^th	1369	60.8%
2023	59.28	450^th	1367	67.1%
2024	58.28	473^rd	1363	65.3%

See the entire list of Illinois Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	47.68	101^st	285	64.6%
2019	49.38	113^th	339	66.7%
2021	36.26	200^th	277	27.8%
2022	28.44	403^rd	454	11.2%
2023	38.07	283^rd	480	41.0%
2024	31.42	368^th	486	24.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	54.09	188^th	602	68.8%
2019	34.52	472^nd	792	40.4%
2021	43.37	243^rd	548	55.7%
2022	38.24	418^th	781	46.5%
2023	39.29	410^th	805	49.1%
2024	32.75	498^th	802	37.9%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	82.64	108^th	1161	90.7%
2019	72.10	222^nd	1217	81.8%
2021	73.37	138^th	1019	86.5%
2022	62.91	322^nd	1221	73.6%
2023	62.90	329^th	1234	73.3%
2024	67.75	269^th	1219	77.9%

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

Rank History for Female students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	67.87	338^th	1226	72.4%
2019	53.78	535^th	1276	58.1%
2021	62.52	314^th	1017	69.1%
2022	58.83	422^nd	1286	67.2%
2023	62.98	385^th	1275	69.8%
2024	55.13	479^th	1251	61.7%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	38.73	365^th	674	45.8%
2024	32.14	438^th	639	31.5%

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

Rank History for Male students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	71.13	281^st	1223	77.0%
2019	64.51	385^th	1296	70.3%
2021	48.58	455^th	1048	56.6%
2022	44.76	620^th	1286	51.8%
2023	52.73	524^th	1292	59.4%
2024	59.38	424^th	1264	66.5%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	73.68	104^th	590	82.4%
2019	61.61	184^th	639	71.2%
2021	65.93	106^th	517	79.5%
2022	52.96	248^th	662	62.5%
2023	58.07	203^rd	661	69.3%
2024	60.33	196^th	643	69.5%

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

Rank History for White students at Hester Junior High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	69.56	234^th	889	73.7%
2019	50.18	440^th	905	51.4%
2021	58.18	300^th	813	63.1%
2022	50.00	415^th	898	53.8%
2023	68.44	231^st	895	74.2%
2024	54.87	373^rd	875	57.4%

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 Hester Junior High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	219	2	4	30	2	n/a	n/a	0	257
1989	227	2	6	34	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	269
1990	247	1	9	43	2	n/a	n/a	0	302
1991	245	1	3	63	4	n/a	n/a	0	316
1992	242	0	3	77	0	n/a	n/a	0	322
1993	254	0	8	62	0	n/a	n/a	0	324
1994	255	1	4	88	0	n/a	n/a	0	348
1995	243	3	4	117	0	n/a	n/a	0	367
1996	243	3	4	117	0	n/a	n/a	0	367
1997	260	1	6	127	0	n/a	n/a	0	394
1998	271	2	4	151	2	n/a	n/a	0	430
1999	268	2	4	168	0	n/a	n/a	0	442
2000	269	1	7	173	0	n/a	n/a	0	450
2001	243	5	9	173	0	n/a	n/a	0	430
2002	219	7	9	209	4	n/a	n/a	0	448
2003	219	7	9	209	4	n/a	n/a	0	448
2004	218	4	8	232	1	n/a	n/a	0	463
2005	188	10	10	201	0	n/a	n/a	0	409
2006	197	4	11	208	0	n/a	n/a	10	430
2007	189	5	8	222	0	n/a	n/a	12	436
2008	176	2	11	225	0	n/a	n/a	8	422
2009	164	5	6	236	0	n/a	n/a	11	422
2010	171	3	8	228	0	n/a	n/a	14	424
2011	158	2	7	266	0	0	12	0	445
2012	148	2	9	265	0	0	12	0	436
2013	146	3	6	274	1	0	10	0	440
2014	136	3	2	267	1	7	7	0	423
2015	132	4	4	276	0	5	3	0	424
2016	114	3	7	280	1	2	4	0	411
2017	114	0	7	285	0	2	5	0	413
2018	123	1	9	283	0	2	6	0	424
2019	130	2	8	316	0	2	5	0	463
2020	150	1	7	313	0	2	4	0	477
2021	144	3	7	304	0	2	1	0	461
2022	125	5	9	315	0	1	1	0	456
2023	100	5	13	325	0	0	3	0	446
2024	98	5	16	331	0	0	3	0	453

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 Hester Junior High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	257	22.0	11.6	n/a
1989	269	22.0	12.2	n/a
1990	302	22.0	13.7	n/a
1991	316	25.0	12.6	n/a
1992	322	26.0	12.3	n/a
1993	324	26.0	12.5	n/a
1994	348	26.0	13.4	n/a
1995	367	26.0	14.1	n/a
1996	367	26.0	14.1	n/a
1997	394	26.0	15.2	n/a
1998	430	27.0	15.9	n/a
1999	442	28.0	15.8	n/a
2000	450	29.0	15.5	n/a
2001	430	31.0	13.9	n/a
2002	448	31.5	14.2	17.9
2003	448	31.5	14.2	17.9
2004	463	30.5	15.2	21.6
2005	409	28.0	14.6	23.2
2006	430	30.0	14.3	21.9
2007	436	33.0	13.2	25.2
2008	422	28.0	15.1	30.2
2009	422	32.0	13.2	30.7
2010	424	32.0	13.2	41.2
2011	445	31.0	14.3	43.6
2012	436	33.0	13.2	41.7
2013	440	39.6	11.0	55.7
2014	423	33.0	12.8	65.5
2015	424	33.0	12.8	66.7
2016	411	31.0	13.2	68.1
2017	413	31.2	13.2	70.9
2018	424	30.5	13.9	74.5
2019	463	31.0	14.9	61.8
2020	477	31.6	15.0	57.9
2021	461	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	456	30.5	14.9	55.7
2023	446	33.0	13.5	61.7
2024	453	34.1	13.2	57.4

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 Hester Junior High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	257	22.0	11.6	n/a
1989	269	22.0	12.2	n/a
1990	302	22.0	13.7	n/a
1991	316	25.0	12.6	n/a
1992	322	26.0	12.3	n/a
1993	324	26.0	12.5	n/a
1994	348	26.0	13.4	n/a
1995	367	26.0	14.1	n/a
1996	367	26.0	14.1	n/a
1997	394	26.0	15.2	n/a
1998	430	27.0	15.9	n/a
1999	442	28.0	15.8	n/a
2000	450	29.0	15.5	n/a
2001	430	31.0	13.9	n/a
2002	448	31.5	14.2	17.9
2003	448	31.5	14.2	17.9
2004	463	30.5	15.2	21.6
2005	409	28.0	14.6	23.2
2006	430	30.0	14.3	21.9
2007	436	33.0	13.2	25.2
2008	422	28.0	15.1	30.2
2009	422	32.0	13.2	30.7
2010	424	32.0	13.2	41.2
2011	445	31.0	14.3	43.6
2012	436	33.0	13.2	41.7
2013	440	39.6	11.0	55.7
2014	423	33.0	12.8	65.5
2015	424	33.0	12.8	66.7
2016	411	31.0	13.2	68.1
2017	413	31.2	13.2	70.9
2018	424	30.5	13.9	74.5
2019	463	31.0	14.9	61.8
2020	477	31.6	15.0	57.9
2021	461	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	456	30.5	14.9	55.7
2023	446	33.0	13.5	61.7
2024	453	34.1	13.2	57.4

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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