Is Harvard High School a good school?

Harvard High School ranks in the bottom 17.4% of Illinois high schools.

How many students attend Harvard High School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 816 students attended Harvard High School.

What is the racial makeup of Harvard High School?

Students at Harvard High School are 71% Hispanic, 26% White, 1% African American, 1% Two or more races.

What schools feed into Harvard High School?

Harvard High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Crosby Elementary School Elementary : Jefferson Elementary School Middle : Harvard Junior High School

Harvard High School

Summary:

Harvard High School is a public high school located in Harvard, Illinois, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 816 students. The school is part of the Harvard CUSD 50 district, which is ranked 783 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger. Harvard High School has consistently been ranked in the bottom half of Illinois high schools, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger for most of the past decade.

Harvard High School consistently underperforms compared to the state and nearby schools in academic measures. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 1.6% of 11th-grade students were proficient or better in SAT Mathematics, compared to the state average of 26.1%. Similarly, only 10.9% were proficient or better in SAT English Language Arts, compared to the state average of 31.1%. Harvard High School has also had a relatively low four-year graduation rate, ranging from 71.9% to 82.0% over the past five years, in contrast to nearby schools like Belvidere North High School and Woodstock High School, which have graduation rates above 87%. Additionally, Harvard High School has struggled with high chronic absenteeism rates, reaching as high as 37.8% in the 2022-2023 school year, significantly higher than the state average and many of the surrounding schools.

Harvard High School's performance is particularly concerning for certain student subgroups. In the 2023-2024 school year, the school ranked 306 out of 336 Illinois high schools for Hispanic students and 158 out of 248 for English Language Learner students, both receiving 0 stars from SchoolDigger. The school's declining performance over the past several years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 459 out of 688 Illinois high schools in the 2020-2021 school year to 576 out of 697 in the 2023-2024 school year, suggests that addressing these challenges will require a comprehensive approach that considers the school's socioeconomic context, resource allocation, and targeted interventions to support student success.

Detail:

Public 9-12

1103 N Jefferson St
Harvard, IL 60033-1757

(815) 943-6461

District: Harvard CUSD 50

SchoolDigger Rank:
576^th of 697 Illinois High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $18,235

Feeder schools for Harvard High School:

Elementary:	Crosby Elementary School
	Jefferson Elementary School
Middle:	Harvard Junior High School

Student/teacher ratio: 11.5

Number of students: 816

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

71.0%

White:

26.1%

African American:

1.5%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 40%

See top rated Illinois high schools

Compare Harvard High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Harvard High School ranks worse than 82.6% of high schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 17.47. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Harvard 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

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Harvard High School is $18,235.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Harvard High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Harvard High School 576^th of 697 Illinois public high schools. (See Harvard High School in the ranking list.)

High 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:

Harvard CUSD 50:

SchoolDigger ranks Harvard CUSD 50 783^rd of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Harvard High School

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Rank History for all students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	47.38	363^rd	586	38.1%
2004	65.66	209^th	592	64.7%
2005	46.83	365^th	590	38.1%
2006	1.39	576^th	596	3.4%
2007	39.04	421^st	612	31.2%
2008	21.24	517^th	624	17.1%
2009	48.55	373^rd	632	41.0%
2010	35.76	477^th	643	25.8%
2011	26.74	510^th	655	22.1%
2012	27.18	516^th	665	22.4%
2013	25.21	524^th	670	21.8%
2014	30.86	494^th	670	26.3%
2015	15.85	544^th	614	11.4%
2016	27.21	488^th	643	24.1%
2017	20.70	524^th	642	18.4%
2018	24.05	510^th	647	21.2%
2019	33.66	480^th	701	31.5%
2021	32.03	459^th	688	33.3%
2022	20.66	559^th	699	20.0%
2023	26.12	521^st	699	25.5%
2024	17.47	576^th	697	17.4%

See the entire list of Illinois High School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	29.18	114^th	151	24.5%
2019	29.57	141^st	183	23.0%
2021	32.79	86^th	189	54.5%
2022	33.36	143^rd	205	30.2%
2023	23.07	201^st	217	7.4%
2024	28.56	158^th	248	36.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	39.06	183^rd	374	51.1%
2019	42.00	190^th	473	59.8%
2021	62.21	101^st	453	77.7%
2022	39.38	228^th	493	53.8%
2023	50.35	165^th	476	65.3%
2024	28.65	306^th	482	36.5%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	32.74	426^th	585	27.2%
2019	45.37	335^th	639	47.6%
2021	23.53	491^st	611	19.6%
2022	28.89	458^th	626	26.8%
2023	28.59	483^rd	644	25.0%
2024	17.98	556^th	639	13.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	22.99	493^rd	620	20.5%
2019	27.26	490^th	665	26.3%
2021	31.10	418^th	639	34.6%
2022	22.92	507^th	658	22.9%
2023	20.41	526^th	656	19.8%
2024	15.46	570^th	664	14.2%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	29.82	289^th	428	32.5%
2024	27.00	261^st	429	39.2%

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

Rank History for Male students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.59	476^th	619	23.1%
2019	40.70	405^th	675	40.0%
2021	31.33	430^th	653	34.2%
2022	19.17	546^th	664	17.8%
2023	32.46	458^th	668	31.4%
2024	20.61	530^th	668	20.7%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	19.38	250^th	291	14.1%
2019	29.57	228^th	317	28.1%
2021	27.83	230^th	317	27.4%
2022	21.24	272^nd	335	18.8%
2023	19.40	289^th	333	13.2%
2024	15.75	306^th	336	8.9%

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

Rank History for White students at Harvard High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	33.96	360^th	548	34.3%
2019	37.50	323^rd	552	41.5%
2021	41.69	279^th	553	49.5%
2022	18.08	487^th	560	13.0%
2023	34.79	352^nd	557	36.8%
2024	22.85	433^rd	554	21.8%

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 Harvard High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1989	477	n/a	n/a	22	1	n/a	n/a	0	500
1990	466	1	1	31	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	499
1991	478	2	2	38	0	n/a	n/a	0	520
1992	489	2	2	44	0	n/a	n/a	0	537
1993	504	1	3	57	1	n/a	n/a	0	566
1994	528	1	3	53	0	n/a	n/a	0	585
1995	503	3	4	72	0	n/a	n/a	0	582
1996	503	3	4	72	0	n/a	n/a	0	582
1997	483	3	5	85	0	n/a	n/a	0	576
1998	479	2	1	98	0	n/a	n/a	0	580
1999	475	5	1	98	0	n/a	n/a	0	579
2000	491	7	4	95	0	n/a	n/a	0	597
2001	480	6	1	130	0	n/a	n/a	0	617
2002	428	7	3	183	0	n/a	n/a	0	621
2003	428	7	3	183	0	n/a	n/a	0	621
2004	409	3	3	214	0	n/a	n/a	0	629
2005	442	5	4	238	0	n/a	n/a	5	694
2006	417	5	4	258	0	n/a	n/a	14	698
2007	417	5	4	264	0	n/a	n/a	22	712
2008	368	5	2	272	0	n/a	n/a	25	672
2009	372	8	2	310	0	n/a	n/a	31	723
2010	318	9	0	301	0	n/a	n/a	23	651
2011	325	8	3	356	0	0	11	0	703
2012	295	10	4	366	0	0	11	0	686
2013	299	6	4	363	0	0	7	0	679
2014	287	8	6	369	0	0	5	0	675
2015	261	2	4	392	0	0	11	0	670
2016	246	2	0	416	0	0	7	0	671
2017	227	2	3	437	0	0	9	0	678
2018	234	6	4	465	0	0	9	0	718
2019	240	3	5	482	1	0	9	0	740
2020	235	5	5	502	0	0	8	0	755
2021	238	4	2	523	0	0	10	0	777
2022	210	9	1	557	0	0	11	0	788
2023	213	12	2	579	0	0	10	0	816

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 Harvard High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	500	37.0	13.5	n/a
1990	499	37.0	13.4	n/a
1991	520	34.0	15.2	n/a
1992	537	33.0	16.2	n/a
1993	566	33.0	17.2	n/a
1994	585	35.0	16.7	n/a
1995	582	37.0	15.7	n/a
1996	582	37.0	15.7	n/a
1997	576	37.0	15.6	n/a
1998	580	38.8	14.9	n/a
1999	579	40.6	14.3	n/a
2000	597	39.8	15.0	n/a
2001	617	41.5	14.9	n/a
2002	621	44.1	14.1	25
2003	621	44.1	14.1	25
2004	629	43.0	14.6	30.8
2005	694	44.0	15.8	31.5
2006	698	44.0	15.9	30.1
2007	712	42.0	17.0	34.5
2008	672	41.0	16.4	34
2009	723	47.7	15.2	35.1
2010	651	49.4	13.1	46.7
2011	703	48.3	14.5	55
2012	686	49.0	13.9	52
2013	679	52.8	12.8	53.8
2014	675	53.0	12.7	50.4
2015	670	54.0	12.4	59.1
2016	671	55.0	12.2	63.8
2017	678	64.7	10.4	99.1
2018	718	63.7	11.2	50.3
2019	740	63.5	11.6	43.2
2020	755	66.5	11.3	42.6
2021	777	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	788	66.5	11.8	37.9
2023	816	70.5	11.5	40

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 Harvard High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1989	500	37.0	13.5	n/a
1990	499	37.0	13.4	n/a
1991	520	34.0	15.2	n/a
1992	537	33.0	16.2	n/a
1993	566	33.0	17.2	n/a
1994	585	35.0	16.7	n/a
1995	582	37.0	15.7	n/a
1996	582	37.0	15.7	n/a
1997	576	37.0	15.6	n/a
1998	580	38.8	14.9	n/a
1999	579	40.6	14.3	n/a
2000	597	39.8	15.0	n/a
2001	617	41.5	14.9	n/a
2002	621	44.1	14.1	25
2003	621	44.1	14.1	25
2004	629	43.0	14.6	30.8
2005	694	44.0	15.8	31.5
2006	698	44.0	15.9	30.1
2007	712	42.0	17.0	34.5
2008	672	41.0	16.4	34
2009	723	47.7	15.2	35.1
2010	651	49.4	13.1	46.7
2011	703	48.3	14.5	55
2012	686	49.0	13.9	52
2013	679	52.8	12.8	53.8
2014	675	53.0	12.7	50.4
2015	670	54.0	12.4	59.1
2016	671	55.0	12.2	63.8
2017	678	64.7	10.4	99.1
2018	718	63.7	11.2	50.3
2019	740	63.5	11.6	43.2
2020	755	66.5	11.3	42.6
2021	777	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	788	66.5	11.8	37.9
2023	816	70.5	11.5	40

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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