Altamont High School

Altamont High School is a high school of minimally staffed scale in Altamont, Illinois, part of Altamont CUSD 10, enrolling 222 students in grades 9 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 834 students per school, that is 73% smaller than typical.

Within Altamont CUSD 10, which oversees 2 schools and 684 students, Altamont High School is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Altamont High School shows that the student body is overwhelmingly White (94%). The remainder consists of 3% Hispanic, 2% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.8:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.8:1 average. Roughly 51% of students at Altamont High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Effingham County runs at roughly 37%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Altamont High School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 41.9%; this one delivers 44.1%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Effingham County indicate median household earnings sit near $80,404, about 27% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Altamont High School is one of 18 public schools in Effingham County (combined enrollment of about 5,063 students).

Altamont Grade School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Within ten miles, there are 6 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. On composite proficiency, Altamont High School comes 6th of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 43.7%.

The campus sits in a low-density setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Altamont High School's enrollment has stayed largely flat since 2018, when it stood at 224 (now 222). Over the same period, the White share edged down from 98% to 94%.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.