Is Challand Middle School a good school?

Challand Middle School ranks 792 nd of 1363 Illinois middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Challand Middle School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 710 students attended Challand Middle School.

What is the racial makeup of Challand Middle School?

Students at Challand Middle School are 55% White, 36% Hispanic, 6% Two or more races, 2% African American.

What high school do graduates of Challand Middle School attend?

Students who attend Challand Middle School usually go on to attend Sterling High School

Challand Middle School

Summary:

Challand Middle School is a public middle school located in Sterling, Illinois, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 710 students. The school is part of the Sterling CUSD 5 district, which is ranked 509 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Challand Middle School consistently underperforms compared to the state average in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics proficiency across all grade levels. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 32.7% of Challand students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to the state average of 41.2%. In Mathematics, the proficiency rate was 19.1%, significantly lower than the state's 28.4%. The school also struggles with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 12.8% to 29.6% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the state's average. Additionally, Challand Middle School's performance varies significantly across different student subgroups, with White students and students with disabilities consistently performing poorly, ranking in the bottom quartile of Illinois middle schools.

When comparing Challand Middle School to nearby middle schools, such as Amboy Junior High School, PLT Middle School, Aplington Middle School, Morrison Junior High School, and Reagan Middle School, Challand consistently underperforms in both ELA and Mathematics proficiency. The school's performance has also declined over the years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 628 out of 1,302 Illinois middle schools in 2014-2015 to 792 out of 1,363 in 2023-2024. Despite the increased spending per student at Challand Middle School, the academic outcomes have not improved, suggesting that the school may need to re-evaluate its resource allocation and focus on evidence-based strategies that have a direct impact on student learning.

Detail:

Public 6-8

1700 6th Ave
Sterling, IL 61081-1379

(815) 626-3300

District: Sterling CUSD 5

SchoolDigger Rank:
792^nd of 1,363 Illinois Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $13,355

Students who attend Challand Middle School usually attend:

High:

Sterling High School

Feeder schools for Challand Middle School:

Elementary:	Franklin Elementary School
	Jefferson Elementary School
	Lincoln Elementary School
	Washington Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 15.6

Number of students: 710

Racial breakdown:

White:

55.4%

Hispanic:

36.1%

Two or more races:

5.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 50.1%

See top rated Illinois middle schools

Compare Challand Middle School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Challand Middle School ranks worse than 58.1% of middle schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 37.02. (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

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Challand Middle School is $13,355.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Challand Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Challand Middle School 792^nd of 1363 Illinois public middle schools. (See Challand Middle School 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:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Sterling CUSD 5:

SchoolDigger ranks Sterling CUSD 5 509^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Challand Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	54.16	615^th	1185	48.1%
2004	59.69	568^th	1204	52.8%
2005	61.46	557^th	1209	53.9%
2006	58.38	609^th	1272	52.1%
2007	61.47	580^th	1287	54.9%
2008	68.44	448^th	1293	65.4%
2009	62.70	557^th	1318	57.7%
2010	57.56	662^nd	1327	50.1%
2011	56.57	678^th	1344	49.6%
2012	61.69	582^nd	1365	57.4%
2013	49.65	707^th	1367	48.3%
2014	54.80	608^th	1322	54.0%
2015	44.61	628^th	1302	51.8%
2016	32.74	853^rd	1294	34.1%
2017	37.09	786^th	1293	39.2%
2018	35.19	809^th	1293	37.4%
2019	35.42	839^th	1356	38.1%
2021	34.18	744^th	1241	40.0%
2022	40.71	740^th	1369	45.9%
2023	44.39	701^st	1367	48.7%
2024	37.02	792^nd	1363	41.9%

See the entire list of Illinois Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	22.60	127^th	164	22.6%
2019	14.66	155^th	179	13.4%
2021	20.25	80^th	97	17.5%
2022	37.27	113^th	195	42.1%
2023	32.86	117^th	194	39.7%
2024	23.00	134^th	184	27.2%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2021	83.85	3^rd	277	98.9%
2022	51.46	133^rd	454	70.7%
2023	66.63	62^nd	480	87.1%
2024	38.18	294^th	486	39.5%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	38.76	314^th	602	47.8%
2019	32.45	514^th	792	35.1%
2021	36.69	315^th	548	42.5%
2022	30.39	588^th	781	24.7%
2023	32.23	519^th	805	35.5%
2024	27.35	600^th	802	25.2%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	31.76	823^rd	1161	29.1%
2019	34.36	820^th	1217	32.6%
2021	33.65	684^th	1019	32.9%
2022	30.51	873^rd	1221	28.5%
2023	39.32	728^th	1234	41.0%
2024	32.85	824^th	1219	32.4%

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

Rank History for Female students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	27.90	898^th	1226	26.8%
2019	29.70	918^th	1276	28.1%
2021	34.76	624^th	1017	38.6%
2022	42.00	681^st	1286	47.0%
2023	44.56	646^th	1275	49.3%
2024	38.72	720^th	1251	42.4%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	41.77	327^th	674	51.5%
2024	34.70	393^rd	639	38.5%

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

Rank History for Male students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	42.69	650^th	1223	46.9%
2019	41.62	701^st	1296	45.9%
2021	28.61	739^th	1048	29.5%
2022	38.81	718^th	1286	44.2%
2023	43.14	657^th	1292	49.1%
2024	34.79	761^st	1264	39.8%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	26.32	477^th	590	19.2%
2019	30.57	466^th	639	27.1%
2021	30.64	386^th	517	25.3%
2022	30.42	474^th	662	28.4%
2023	44.17	327^th	661	50.5%
2024	36.92	380^th	643	40.9%

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

Rank History for White students at Challand Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	25.59	693^rd	889	22.0%
2019	22.52	736^th	905	18.7%
2021	27.29	600^th	813	26.2%
2022	31.05	633^rd	898	29.5%
2023	31.49	631^st	895	29.5%
2024	23.89	689^th	875	21.3%

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: 2.7)

33%

Reviews:

by a parent
Saturday, January 28, 2023

The teachers are great but school administration, not so much. They encourage students to come to school sick and penalize them if they don't. The student wellbeing is not a top priority. Close Quote

by a parent
Wednesday, December 4, 2019

There are very few teachers that care how well the kids succeed at this school. The school has no resources to help kids that are struggling in their classes, other than the help from the teacher whenever they are available, if they are even willing to help them. The teachers constantly blame the children that don’t understand how to complete the homework or fail a test, by telling them they are not trying. When they clearly don’t understand. Teachers have been mean to children that need extra time to finish a test or come in before or after school for help. When the teachers also state they must not be trying. The teachers say inappropriate things to the children. For example: Complaining about working and not getting time off since they have to make up for snow days. Talking bad about other children in front of students. Making racial comments to the entire class. As to how hard it is to be a specific race.
The majority of the teachers favor the “popular kids” or “rich kids”. Its bad enough to be bullied but the teachers seem to be bullies themselves. I am sad to say I sent my child there. I learned the hard way. No wonder why this school is ranked so low in the state and the nation. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Challand Middle School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	577	11	3	24	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	615
1989	573	15	2	23	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	613
1990	584	12	6	22	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	624
1991	612	8	7	18	0	n/a	n/a	0	645
1992	549	16	9	66	1	n/a	n/a	0	641
1993	532	14	6	93	0	n/a	n/a	0	645
1994	535	15	6	98	2	n/a	n/a	0	656
1995	462	18	5	86	3	n/a	n/a	0	574
1996	462	18	5	86	3	n/a	n/a	0	574
1997	678	24	10	148	5	n/a	n/a	0	865
1998	653	25	8	163	5	n/a	n/a	0	854
1999	646	30	7	153	6	n/a	n/a	0	842
2000	601	29	9	155	5	n/a	n/a	0	799
2001	589	40	11	168	4	n/a	n/a	0	812
2002	613	41	6	182	0	n/a	n/a	0	842
2003	613	41	6	182	0	n/a	n/a	0	842
2004	599	37	4	181	0	n/a	n/a	0	821
2005	552	15	4	150	0	n/a	n/a	54	775
2006	499	16	5	139	0	n/a	n/a	52	711
2007	467	23	6	148	0	n/a	n/a	54	698
2008	457	23	4	162	2	n/a	n/a	64	712
2009	475	27	5	160	1	n/a	n/a	79	747
2010	498	25	2	175	3	n/a	n/a	91	794
2011	498	27	3	238	2	0	27	0	795
2012	462	28	3	242	1	0	30	0	766
2013	440	28	3	243	1	0	23	0	738
2014	433	27	4	255	5	0	21	0	745
2015	422	33	5	259	5	0	29	0	753
2016	429	26	8	265	1	0	29	0	758
2017	417	23	7	271	2	0	24	0	744
2018	427	15	7	284	2	0	36	0	771
2019	424	13	7	282	2	0	37	0	765
2020	441	19	7	278	3	0	45	0	793
2021	403	16	9	287	2	0	43	0	760
2022	390	13	9	278	2	0	43	0	735
2023	393	12	7	256	0	1	41	0	710

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 Challand Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	615	42.9	14.3	n/a
1989	613	40.0	15.3	n/a
1990	624	38.0	16.4	n/a
1991	645	38.1	16.9	n/a
1992	641	38.0	16.8	n/a
1993	645	37.0	17.4	n/a
1994	656	37.0	17.7	n/a
1995	574	39.0	14.7	n/a
1996	574	39.0	14.7	n/a
1997	865	54.0	16.0	n/a
1998	854	55.0	15.5	n/a
1999	842	55.0	15.3	n/a
2000	799	53.0	15.1	n/a
2001	812	51.0	15.9	n/a
2002	842	61.0	13.8	36.1
2003	842	61.0	13.8	36.1
2004	821	52.0	15.8	39.5
2005	775	45.0	17.2	43.6
2006	711	49.0	14.5	40.2
2007	698	44.0	15.9	40.4
2008	712	42.0	17.0	49.5
2009	747	50.5	14.8	50.7
2010	794	51.0	15.5	55.8
2011	795	52.0	15.2	51.1
2012	766	52.0	14.7	50.4
2013	738	54.3	13.5	56.8
2014	745	44.5	16.7	55.3
2015	753	42.0	17.9	58.8
2016	758	41.0	18.4	53.4
2017	744	39.0	19.0	54.4
2018	771	41.4	18.6	61
2019	765	43.7	17.5	60.8
2020	793	41.0	19.3	56.7
2021	760	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	735	42.0	17.4	53.7
2023	710	45.5	15.6	50.1

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 Challand Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	615	42.9	14.3	n/a
1989	613	40.0	15.3	n/a
1990	624	38.0	16.4	n/a
1991	645	38.1	16.9	n/a
1992	641	38.0	16.8	n/a
1993	645	37.0	17.4	n/a
1994	656	37.0	17.7	n/a
1995	574	39.0	14.7	n/a
1996	574	39.0	14.7	n/a
1997	865	54.0	16.0	n/a
1998	854	55.0	15.5	n/a
1999	842	55.0	15.3	n/a
2000	799	53.0	15.1	n/a
2001	812	51.0	15.9	n/a
2002	842	61.0	13.8	36.1
2003	842	61.0	13.8	36.1
2004	821	52.0	15.8	39.5
2005	775	45.0	17.2	43.6
2006	711	49.0	14.5	40.2
2007	698	44.0	15.9	40.4
2008	712	42.0	17.0	49.5
2009	747	50.5	14.8	50.7
2010	794	51.0	15.5	55.8
2011	795	52.0	15.2	51.1
2012	766	52.0	14.7	50.4
2013	738	54.3	13.5	56.8
2014	745	44.5	16.7	55.3
2015	753	42.0	17.9	58.8
2016	758	41.0	18.4	53.4
2017	744	39.0	19.0	54.4
2018	771	41.4	18.6	61
2019	765	43.7	17.5	60.8
2020	793	41.0	19.3	56.7
2021	760	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	735	42.0	17.4	53.7
2023	710	45.5	15.6	50.1

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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