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Best kept secret at Benjamin Franklin Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
709
Middle
DISTRICT 508 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SPRINGFIELD SD 186·NCES 173708003814
Benjamin Franklin Middle School
1200 Outer Park Dr, Springfield, IL 62704 · (217) 787-3006 · Sangamon County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL709 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
54 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.7:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
379 students
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 56%
Community
5
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 6 | 232 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 224 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 253 | 36% |
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · 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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
41.4%
IL avg 51.0% . +7.5pp since 2023
Math
24.4%
IL avg 37.9% . +3.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 24 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.4% | 24.4% |
| 2023-24 | 33.9% | 21.4% |
% 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
32.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.6%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% 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 Benjamin Franklin Middle School
Benjamin Franklin Middle School's state test result (32.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin Middle School this school | 709 | 53.5% | 32.9% |
| Edison Middle School Champaign | 647 | 49.9% | 35.8% |
| Jefferson Middle School Champaign | 711 | 59.5% | 33.3% |
| Franklin Middle School Champaign | 665 | 57.3% | 30.1% |
| Chute Middle School Evanston | 598 | 50.5% | 51.5% |
| Eisenhower Middle School Rockford | 963 | 59.3% | 22.4% |
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 Benjamin Franklin Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Sangamon County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.9% | #407 of 578 | #13 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 24.4% | #435 of 640 ▼ 64 | #12 of 17 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.4% | #483 of 640 ▼ 19 | #14 of 17 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 709 | #138 of 691 | #2 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.1:1 | #293 of 558 | #7 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.9% | #39 of 560 | #1 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.5% | #261 of 581 | #5 of 16 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.0% | #251 of 440 | #9 of 13 |
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
709
-55 (-7%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 833
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 | 709 | 54 | 13.1:1 | 53% (379) |
| 2023-24 | 705 | 55.2 | 12.8:1 | 56% (397) |
| 2022-23 | 713 | 52 | 13.7:1 | 53% (375) |
| 2020-21 | 764 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 788 | 49.6 | 15.9:1 | 55% (436) |
| 2015-16 | 783 | 46 | 17.0:1 | 46% (362) |
| 2010-11 | 734 | 51 | 14.4:1 | 58% (424) |
| 2000-01 | 709 | 50 | 14.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 833 | 47 | 17.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (788 to 709); teachers up 9% (49.6 to 54).
About Benjamin Franklin Middle School
Benjamin Franklin Middle School is a middle-grades school in Springfield, Illinois, according to federal school records. It is open to students in grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 709 students. That is 53% larger than the average of about 462 students for middle schools in Illinois.
Benjamin Franklin Middle School is part of Springfield SD 186, where 31 schools serve 13,014 students.
The student body at Benjamin Franklin Middle School has no majority group. Black students lead at 41%. Enrollment also includes 33% White, 12% multiracial, 7% Hispanic, and 6% Asian. The school's Black share is 28 points above the 13% share among Sangamon County residents. A diversity index of 70% means there is a 70% chance two randomly chosen students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School are from different groups.
Staffing at Benjamin Franklin Middle School comes to 54 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 13.1:1. The average for middle schools in Illinois is about 13.0:1. On the income side, 53% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Benjamin Franklin Middle School scores 32.9% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 40.6%.
American Community Survey estimates for Sangamon County show that the median household earns about $75,357 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 37%, and roughly 9% of residents are in poverty. Across Sangamon County, 77 public schools serve about 27,345 students.
Butler Elementary School is the nearest public school to Benjamin Franklin Middle School, about 0.6 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 32.9% is above the 30.3% average for nearby schools.
Federal data place Benjamin Franklin Middle School in the City: Mid-size locale, which means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
From 764 students in 2020-21, enrollment decreased to 709 by 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Benjamin Franklin Middle School, such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Sangamon County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
194,947
Census ACS
Median income
$75,357
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
77
27,345 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Springfield SD 186
- Springfield High SchoolHigh · 1,308 students
- Springfield Southeast High SchoolHigh · 1,229 students
- Lanphier High SchoolHigh · 1,117 students
- Early Learning CenterElementary · 549 students
- Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 517 students
- Washington Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
Other schools in Springfield
- Springfield High SchoolHigh · 1,308 students
- Springfield Southeast High SchoolHigh · 1,229 students
- Lanphier High SchoolHigh · 1,117 students
- Early Learning CenterElementary · 549 students
- Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 517 students
- Washington Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
Other Benjamin Franklin Middle schools
6 other US public schools in 6 states are named Benjamin Franklin Middle. Benjamin Franklin Middle School is the 4th largest of the 7.
- Benjamin Franklin MiddleRocky Mount, VA · 1,382 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolValparaiso, IN · 823 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolLevittown, PA · 754 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolRIDGEWOOD, NJ · 627 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolWAYNE, MI · 619 students
Nearby schools
- Butler Elementary School0.6 mi · 367
- Black Hawk Elementary School0.8 mi · 234
- Early Learning Center0.9 mi · 549
- Sandburg Elementary School1.2 mi · 279
- Elizabeth Graham Elementary School1.6 mi · 241
- Harvard Park Elementary School1.6 mi · 370
Frequently asked questions
About Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Benjamin Franklin Middle School?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School enrolls approximately 709 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Benjamin Franklin Middle School serve?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School?
Approximately 13.1:1 students per teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School?
At Benjamin Franklin Middle School, the student body is approximately 33% White, 7% Hispanic, 41% Black, 6% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Is Benjamin Franklin Middle School public or private?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Springfield SD 186.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.