Carlyle Junior High School

Set in Carlyle, Illinois, Carlyle Junior High School is a cozy intermediate school, overseen by Carlyle CUSD 1. It educates 281 students across grades 5 through 8. That puts it 39% smaller than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 462 students.

Carlyle Junior High School is one of 3 schools operated by Carlyle CUSD 1, a district that teaches 926 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Carlyle Junior High School shows that 87% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 5% multiracial, 4% Hispanic, 4% Black. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.0:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 57% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Clinton County (around 36%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Carlyle Junior High School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 38.6% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 49.1%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Clinton County) records that the typical household earns roughly $86,588 per year, roughly 26% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Carlyle Junior High School is one of 19 public schools in Clinton County (combined enrollment of about 5,278 students).

Carlyle High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 3 other public schools cluster around Carlyle Junior High School. On composite proficiency, Carlyle Junior High School comes 7th of 8 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 61.1%.

The campus sits in a low-density setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 17%: 337 students in 2018 compared to 281 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 93% to 87%.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.