Enrollment
367
Middle
DISTRICT 398 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PARK FOREST SD 163·NCES 173081003202
Barack Obama School of Ldership
401 Concord Dr, Chicago Heights, IL 60411 · (708) 668-9101 · Cook County
GRADES 04–06MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL367 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 37% of Illinois public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.8:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
81%
296 students
DISTRICT 80% · STATE 56%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 4 | 159 | 43% |
| Grade 5 | 146 | 40% |
| Grade 6 | 61 | 17% |
Student demographics
38%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 69% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Based on grade levels within Park Forest SD 163. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
44.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +22.0pp since 2023
Math
19.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +8.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Illinois schools, those numbers are about 51 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 22 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.0% | 19.0% |
| 2023-24 | 22.0% | 10.3% |
% Proficient (Levels 4-5), all students and all tested grades.
Source: IAR + ISA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
29.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
24.9%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 25% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Illinois's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Barack Obama School of Ldership
Barack Obama School of Ldership's state test result (29.4% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama School of Ldership this school | 367 | 80.7% | 29.4% |
| Michelle Obama School of Technology Park Forest | 428 | 79.0% | 22.4% |
| McKinley Jr High School South Holland | 287 | 77.4% | 33.6% |
| Sauk Elementary School Richton Park | 281 | 74.4% | 25.8% |
| Sterling Middle School Peoria | 374 | 88.5% | 9.4% |
| Wirth/Parks Middle School Cahokia | 571 | 81.6% | 8.5% |
Matched among Illinois middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Barack Obama School of Ldership ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.4% | #445 of 578 | #73 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.0% | #494 of 640 ▲ 33 | #106 of 146 ▲ 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.0% | #467 of 640 ▲ 91 | #95 of 146 ▲ 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 367 | #390 of 691 | #106 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #226 of 558 | #73 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 37.9% | #347 of 560 | #97 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 80.7% | #60 of 581 | #30 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.4% | #349 of 440 | #82 of 97 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
367
+35 (+11%) vs 2020
-10% since 1990-91, when it was 408
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 367 | 29.5 | 12.4:1 | 81% (296) |
| 2023-24 | 315 | 23.5 | 13.4:1 | 82% (257) |
| 2022-23 | 329 | 29.4 | 11.2:1 | 74% (244) |
| 2020-21 | 332 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 388 | 31.2 | 12.4:1 | 77% (300) |
| 2015-16 | 436 | 31 | 14.1:1 | 85% (370) |
| 2010-11 | 477 | 25 | 19.1:1 | 86% (412) |
| 2000-01 | 420 | 25 | 16.8:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 408 | 21 | 19.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Barack Obama School of Ldership.
Since 2017-18: students down 5% (388 to 367); teachers down 5% (31.2 to 29.5).
About Barack Obama School of Ldership
Barack Obama School of Ldership is a small middle school based in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Enrollment is 367 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 4 through 6. Against the 462-student average for middle schools in Illinois, enrollment here is 21% lower.
Park Forest SD 163 runs Barack Obama School of Ldership along with 5 other schools, enrolling 1,524 students in total.
At 77%, Black students outnumber all other groups at Barack Obama School of Ldership combined. The remaining students are 15% Hispanic and 6% multiracial. Among people living in Cook County, the Black share is about 22%. Barack Obama School of Ldership has a diversity index of 38%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school reported 29.5 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 12.4:1. Middle schools in Illinois average about 13.0:1, a similar figure. Eligible students account for 81% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program. Across public schools in Cook County, the average is 66%.
allk12 grades Barack Obama School of Ldership a C+. The grade compares the school only with Illinois public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
In Illinois, Barack Obama School of Ldership is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 29.4% actual against a predicted 24.9%.
In the county around the school, Cook County, median household income is about $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. Barack Obama School of Ldership is among the 1,406 public schools in Cook County.
Nearest public school: Wilson Elementary School, about 0.2 miles away. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. On average proficiency, Barack Obama School of Ldership is 6th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
Barack Obama School of Ldership is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
Barack Obama School of Ldership saw enrollment rise 11% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Cook County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,182,090
Census ACS
Median income
$83,498
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
1,406
697,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Park Forest SD 163
- Michelle Obama School of TechnologyMiddle · 428 students
- Mohawk Primary CenterElementary · 283 students
- Blackhawk Primary CenterElementary · 167 students
- 21st Century Primary CenterElementary · 152 students
- Algonquin Primary CenterElementary · 127 students
Other schools in Chicago Heights
- Bloom High SchoolHigh · 1,823 students
- Bloom Trail High SchoolHigh · 1,218 students
- Roosevelt Elementary SchoolElementary · 353 students
- Serena Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 305 students
- Washington-McKinley Elementary SchoolElementary · 286 students
- Garfield Elementary SchoolElementary · 248 students
Nearby schools
- Wilson Elementary School0.2 mi · 160
- Algonquin Primary Center0.4 mi · 127
- Roosevelt Elementary School0.8 mi · 353
- Illinois School1.0 mi · 391
- Kennedy Elementary School1.0 mi · 193
- Washington-McKinley Elementary School1.1 mi · 286
Frequently asked questions
About Barack Obama School of LdershipHow many students attend Barack Obama School of Ldership?
Barack Obama School of Ldership enrolls approximately 367 students in grades 04-06.
What grades does Barack Obama School of Ldership serve?
Barack Obama School of Ldership serves grades 04-06.
How many teachers does Barack Obama School of Ldership have?
Barack Obama School of Ldership employs 30 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.4:1.
How diverse is Barack Obama School of Ldership?
Barack Obama School of Ldership reports a student body of 1% White, 15% Hispanic, 77% Black, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Barack Obama School of Ldership?
Barack Obama School of Ldership is overseen by Park Forest SD 163 in Cook County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.