Canton High School

Canton High School is a small high school in Canton, Illinois, one of the schools within Canton Union SD 66. The school teaches 612 students in grades 9 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 834 students per school, that is 27% below typical.

Within Canton Union SD 66, which oversees 5 schools and 2,094 students, Canton High School is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, Canton High School reports that the student body is overwhelmingly White (89%). The remainder reads as 5% multiracial, 3% Hispanic. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Canton High School has 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.9:1. The state averages about 13.8:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 52% of students at Canton High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Canton High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 41.4%, the actual is 39.5%, a residual of -1.9 points.

Across the wider county, census data for Fulton County shows the typical household earns roughly $60,599 per year, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. In all, Fulton County runs 24 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,160 students), of which Canton High School is one.

Lincoln Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 4 other public schools cluster around Canton High School. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Canton High School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 42.9%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Canton High School has declined 13%, going from 700 students in 2018 to 612 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share declined from 95% to 89%. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.6:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the Canton High School community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.