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How has Bradley Central Middle School changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
364
Middle
DISTRICT 426 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BRADLEY SD 61·NCES 170693000853
Bradley Central Middle School
260 N Wabash Ave, Bradley, IL 60915 · (815) 939-3564 · Kankakee County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL364 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.3:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.3:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
240 students
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 56%
Community
1
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 | 128 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 125 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 111 | 30% |
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Bradley SD 61. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
52.7%
IL avg 51.0% . +7.8pp since 2023
Math
13.5%
IL avg 37.9% . +2.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 14 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 2 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 52.7% | 13.5% |
| 2023-24 | 44.9% | 11.4% |
% 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
31.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.4%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 33% 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 Bradley Central Middle School
Bradley Central Middle School's state test result (31.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley Central Middle School this school | 364 | 65.9% | 31.9% |
| Elden D Finley Jr High School Chicago Ridge | 405 | 64.9% | 30.3% |
| Momence Jr High School Momence | 327 | 71.3% | 31.9% |
| Geo T Wilkins Jr High School Justice | 508 | 67.1% | 43.7% |
| Central Elementary School Kewanee | 353 | 72.8% | 31.5% |
| Carl Sandburg Middle School Freeport | 430 | 68.1% | 18.3% |
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 Bradley Central Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Kankakee County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 31.9% | #417 of 578 | #6 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 13.5% | #553 of 640 ▼ 37 | #7 of 7 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.7% | #374 of 640 ▼ 22 | #5 of 7 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 364 | #394 of 691 | #6 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 9.3:1 | #14 of 558 | #1 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.7% | #79 of 560 | #1 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.9% | #128 of 581 | #3 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.4% | #74 of 440 | #3 of 6 |
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
364
-104 (-22%) vs 2020
-10% since 2000-01, when it was 405
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 | 364 | 39 | 9.3:1 | 66% (240) |
| 2023-24 | 382 | 39 | 9.8:1 | 57% (217) |
| 2022-23 | 407 | 39 | 10.4:1 | 65% (264) |
| 2020-21 | 468 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 463 | 36 | 12.9:1 | 52% (239) |
| 2015-16 | 483 | 34 | 14.2:1 | 51% (245) |
| 2010-11 | 501 | 34 | 14.7:1 | 55% (277) |
| 2000-01 | 405 | 26 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bradley Central Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (463 to 364); teachers up 8% (36 to 39).
About Bradley Central Middle School
Bradley Central Middle School is a small middle school located in Bradley, Illinois. School enrollment was 364 students in 2024-25, in grades 6 through 8. For comparison, middle schools in Illinois average about 462 students.
Bradley SD 61 is made up of 3 schools with 1,278 students in all.
A majority of students at Bradley Central Middle School, 50%, are White. The rest of enrollment is 24% Hispanic, 16% Black, and 9% multiracial. Among all residents of Kankakee County, the White share is about 73%. The chance that two students picked at random at Bradley Central Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 66%.
The school has about 9.3 students per teacher and 39 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among middle schools in Illinois is 13.0:1, higher than at this school. About 66% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch.
Test results at Bradley Central Middle School are 1.5 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (31.9% actual, 33.4% predicted).
In the county around the school, Kankakee County, median household income is about $71,281, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Bradley Central Middle School is among the 44 public schools in Kankakee County.
Bradley-Bourbonnais C High School is the public school closest to Bradley Central Middle School, about 0.4 miles away. Bradley Central Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Bradley Central Middle School ranks 6th of 7 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 31.9% against a local average of 37.0%.
Bradley Central Middle School is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000, a location NCES labels Suburb: Small.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Bradley Central Middle School went from 468 students to 364.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Kankakee County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
106,635
Census ACS
Median income
$71,281
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
44
16,499 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bradley SD 61
- Bradley East Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
- Bradley West Elementary SchoolElementary · 395 students
Other schools in Bradley
- Bradley-Bourbonnais C High SchoolHigh · 1,914 students
- Bradley East Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
- Bradley West Elementary SchoolElementary · 395 students
Nearby schools
- Bradley-Bourbonnais C High School0.4 mi · 1,914
- Bradley East Elementary School0.6 mi · 519
- Bradley West Elementary School0.8 mi · 395
- Proegler School1.2 mi · 466
- Shabbona Elementary School1.3 mi · 290
- Alan B Shepard Elementary School1.3 mi · 483
Frequently asked questions
About Bradley Central Middle SchoolHow many students attend Bradley Central Middle School?
Bradley Central Middle School enrolls approximately 364 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Bradley Central Middle School serve?
Bradley Central Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Bradley Central Middle School?
Approximately 9.3:1 students per teacher at Bradley Central Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Bradley Central Middle School?
Student demographics at Bradley Central Middle School are roughly 50% White, 24% Hispanic, 16% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Bradley Central Middle School in?
Bradley Central Middle School is part of Bradley SD 61.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.