Is Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm a good school?

Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm ranks in the bottom 19.3% of Illinois middle schools.

How many students attend Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm?

In the 2022-23 school year, 774 students attended Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm.

What is the racial makeup of Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm?

Students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm are 65% Hispanic, 24% African American, 7% White, 4% Two or more races.

What high school do graduates of Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm attend?

Students who attend Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm usually go on to attend Joliet Central High School

Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Summary:

Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm is a public middle school located in Joliet, Illinois, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 774 students. The school is part of the Joliet PSD 86 district, which is ranked 739 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm faces significant challenges, with low academic achievement, high chronic absenteeism, and wide performance gaps between different student groups. The school's statewide ranking has declined over the past few years, going from 540 out of 1241 middle schools in 2020-2021 (3-star rating) to the current 1100 out of 1363 (1-star rating). While the school's per-student spending has increased, its performance has not shown significant improvement, indicating that simply increasing funding may not be enough to address the underlying issues. Compared to nearby schools like Hufford Junior High School, Gompers Junior High School, and Dirksen Junior High School, Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm generally performs worse, with lower proficiency rates in core subjects and higher chronic absenteeism.

The school's performance varies significantly across different student groups, with White students performing the best and Hispanic, African American, and Special Education students performing significantly worse. The school's high percentage of students (over 97%) eligible for free or reduced-price lunch suggests that the school's economic disadvantage likely contributes to its overall poor academic performance and high chronic absenteeism rates. A comprehensive, data-driven approach is needed to address the root causes of these issues and improve outcomes for all students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm.

Detail:

Public 6-8

402 Richards St
Joliet, IL 60433-2218

(815) 727-5271

District: Joliet PSD 86

SchoolDigger Rank:
1100^th of 1,363 Illinois Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $20,459

Students who attend Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm usually attend:

High:

Joliet Central High School

Feeder schools for Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm:

Elementary:	Edna Keith Elementary School
	T E Culbertson Elementary School
	Woodland Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 14.0

Number of students: 774

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

65.4%

African American:

23.8%

White:

7.0%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 97.3%

See top rated Illinois middle schools

Compare Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm ranks worse than 80.7% of middle schools in Illinois. It also ranks last among 4 ranked middle schools in the Joliet PSD 86 School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 19.76. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a high 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 Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm has the largest middle school student body size in the Joliet PSD 86 School District. (See more...)

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm is $20,459, which is the 2^nd highest among 4 middle schools in the Joliet PSD 86 School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm:

SchoolDigger ranks Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm 1100^th of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Homeless students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Joliet PSD 86:

SchoolDigger ranks Joliet PSD 86 739^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Rating:

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Rank History for Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

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Rank History for all students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	7.33	1090^th	1185	8.0%
2004	14.10	1016^th	1204	15.6%
2005	14.63	1026^th	1209	15.1%
2006	14.83	1092^nd	1272	14.2%
2007	21.48	1059^th	1287	17.7%
2008	33.24	958^th	1293	25.9%
2009	25.70	1044^th	1318	20.8%
2010	28.78	1032^nd	1327	22.2%
2011	32.92	1019^th	1344	24.2%
2012	32.15	1025^th	1365	24.9%
2013	34.67	953^rd	1367	30.3%
2014	31.45	958^th	1322	27.5%
2015	43.93	642^nd	1302	50.7%
2016	38.61	757^th	1294	41.5%
2017	36.46	794^th	1293	38.6%
2018	33.84	827^th	1293	36.0%
2019	37.36	806^th	1356	40.6%
2021	48.34	540^th	1241	56.5%
2022	41.15	729^th	1369	46.7%
2023	34.46	854^th	1367	37.5%
2024	19.76	1100^th	1363	19.3%

See the entire list of Illinois Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	19.53	138^th	164	15.9%
2019	40.48	101^st	179	43.6%
2022	53.49	90^th	195	53.8%
2024	16.88	152^nd	184	17.4%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	45.68	120^th	285	57.9%
2019	36.55	245^th	339	27.7%
2021	40.65	161^st	277	41.9%
2022	44.27	201^st	454	55.7%
2023	41.89	242^nd	480	49.6%
2024	48.07	180^th	486	63.0%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	27.03	469^th	602	22.1%
2019	34.28	477^th	792	39.8%
2021	25.59	501^st	548	8.6%
2022	32.75	533^rd	781	31.8%
2023	33.94	492^nd	805	38.9%
2024	19.58	740^th	802	7.7%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	52.74	470^th	1161	59.5%
2019	57.62	417^th	1217	65.7%
2021	68.91	178^th	1019	82.5%
2022	63.32	317^th	1221	74.0%
2023	54.36	462^nd	1234	62.6%
2024	30.00	862^nd	1219	29.3%

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

Rank History for Homeless students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	40.88	26^th	53	50.9%
2024	48.19	33^rd	70	52.9%

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

Rank History for Female students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	33.96	810^th	1226	33.9%
2019	38.34	772^nd	1276	39.5%
2021	45.87	498^th	1017	51.0%
2022	39.68	722^nd	1286	43.9%
2023	33.11	810^th	1275	36.5%
2024	20.41	1012^th	1251	19.1%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	30.78	473^rd	674	29.8%
2024	24.44	562^nd	639	12.1%

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

Rank History for Male students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	34.14	766^th	1223	37.4%
2019	36.29	780^th	1296	39.8%
2021	43.61	513^th	1048	51.0%
2022	43.09	645^th	1286	49.8%
2023	35.83	786^th	1292	39.2%
2024	19.02	1056^th	1264	16.5%

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

Rank History for African American students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	40.82	282^nd	511	44.8%
2019	48.88	229^th	565	59.5%
2021	60.21	89^th	385	76.9%
2022	47.79	226^th	573	60.6%
2023	42.01	297^th	569	47.8%
2024	33.75	371^st	548	32.3%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	48.44	266^th	590	54.9%
2019	49.59	285^th	639	55.4%
2021	62.37	128^th	517	75.2%
2022	49.56	285^th	662	56.9%
2023	42.64	342^nd	661	48.3%
2024	25.61	513^th	643	20.2%

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

Rank History for White students at Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	73.17	192^nd	889	78.4%
2019	72.73	198^th	905	78.1%
2021	75.03	150^th	813	81.5%
2022	79.58	122^nd	898	86.4%
2023	68.41	232^nd	895	74.1%

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

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)

100%

No reviews have been submitted!

Enrollment information for Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	129	495	6	69	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	699
1989	109	472	8	58	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	647
1990	97	468	3	57	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	625
1991	78	502	0	47	0	n/a	n/a	0	627
1992	75	539	0	57	0	n/a	n/a	0	671
1993	81	531	0	63	0	n/a	n/a	0	675
1994	64	416	0	46	0	n/a	n/a	0	526
1995	39	363	1	54	0	n/a	n/a	0	457
1996	39	363	1	54	0	n/a	n/a	0	457
1997	40	360	0	79	0	n/a	n/a	0	479
1998	44	389	0	78	0	n/a	n/a	0	511
1999	43	431	0	65	0	n/a	n/a	0	539
2000	32	524	1	197	0	n/a	n/a	0	754
2001	42	466	0	200	0	n/a	n/a	0	708
2002	33	399	2	192	0	n/a	n/a	0	626
2003	33	399	2	192	0	n/a	n/a	0	626
2004	121	435	2	136	1	n/a	n/a	0	695
2005	127	383	1	138	0	n/a	n/a	0	649
2006	111	353	3	142	0	n/a	n/a	9	618
2007	103	330	2	153	0	n/a	n/a	15	603
2008	100	312	3	196	0	n/a	n/a	23	634
2009	96	333	1	222	0	n/a	n/a	24	676
2010	111	308	3	176	0	n/a	n/a	40	638
2011	110	319	3	238	1	0	39	0	710
2012	116	296	4	267	1	0	40	0	724
2013	102	295	6	288	1	0	38	0	730
2014	111	269	3	307	1	1	36	0	728
2015	99	311	4	345	2	1	32	0	794
2016	92	315	4	405	4	1	36	0	857
2017	73	283	2	416	3	0	39	0	816
2018	59	268	0	457	1	0	44	0	829
2019	52	258	0	450	0	0	38	0	798
2020	55	206	0	443	0	0	44	0	748
2021	63	181	0	479	0	0	31	0	754
2022	61	181	0	495	0	0	32	0	769
2023	54	184	1	506	0	0	29	0	774

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 Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	699	45.6	15.3	n/a
1989	647	45.0	14.3	n/a
1990	625	46.0	13.5	n/a
1991	627	46.9	13.3	n/a
1992	671	49.0	13.6	n/a
1993	675	47.0	14.4	n/a
1994	526	35.6	14.8	n/a
1995	457	29.0	15.8	n/a
1996	457	29.0	15.8	n/a
1997	479	30.0	16.0	n/a
1998	511	29.0	17.6	n/a
1999	539	36.5	14.8	n/a
2000	754	40.0	18.9	n/a
2001	708	43.5	16.3	n/a
2002	626	43.5	14.4	74.8
2003	626	43.5	14.4	74.8
2004	695	43.0	16.2	76
2005	649	44.0	14.8	59.3
2006	618	40.8	15.1	60.3
2007	603	41.0	14.7	53.4
2008	634	34.0	18.6	70
2009	676	44.9	15.1	66.6
2010	638	45.5	14.0	88.6
2011	710	46.5	15.2	77.6
2012	724	47.0	15.4	75.8
2013	730	55.0	13.2	76.3
2014	728	47.2	15.4	n/a
2015	794	49.0	16.2	99.4
2016	857	53.0	16.1	100
2017	816	52.8	15.4	99.3
2018	829	52.2	15.8	100
2019	798	48.6	16.4	98.5
2020	748	55.6	13.4	99.2
2021	754	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	769	55.2	13.9	97.5
2023	774	55.2	14.0	97.3

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 Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	699	45.6	15.3	n/a
1989	647	45.0	14.3	n/a
1990	625	46.0	13.5	n/a
1991	627	46.9	13.3	n/a
1992	671	49.0	13.6	n/a
1993	675	47.0	14.4	n/a
1994	526	35.6	14.8	n/a
1995	457	29.0	15.8	n/a
1996	457	29.0	15.8	n/a
1997	479	30.0	16.0	n/a
1998	511	29.0	17.6	n/a
1999	539	36.5	14.8	n/a
2000	754	40.0	18.9	n/a
2001	708	43.5	16.3	n/a
2002	626	43.5	14.4	74.8
2003	626	43.5	14.4	74.8
2004	695	43.0	16.2	76
2005	649	44.0	14.8	59.3
2006	618	40.8	15.1	60.3
2007	603	41.0	14.7	53.4
2008	634	34.0	18.6	70
2009	676	44.9	15.1	66.6
2010	638	45.5	14.0	88.6
2011	710	46.5	15.2	77.6
2012	724	47.0	15.4	75.8
2013	730	55.0	13.2	76.3
2014	728	47.2	15.4	n/a
2015	794	49.0	16.2	99.4
2016	857	53.0	16.1	100
2017	816	52.8	15.4	99.3
2018	829	52.2	15.8	100
2019	798	48.6	16.4	98.5
2020	748	55.6	13.4	99.2
2021	754	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	769	55.2	13.9	97.5
2023	774	55.2	14.0	97.3

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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