1
Which teacher or staff member at Cary Jr High School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
761
Middle
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CARY CCSD 26·NCES 170873000513
Cary Jr High School
2109 Crystal Lake Rd, Cary, IL 60013 · (224) 357-5150 · McHenry County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL761 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 48% of Illinois public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
12.5:1
61 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.9:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
29%
217 students
DISTRICT 27% · 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 | 250 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 241 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 270 | 35% |
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 45% · 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 Cary CCSD 26. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
59.7%
IL avg 51.0% . +5.1pp since 2023
Math
35.8%
IL avg 37.9% . +8.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 60 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 8 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 59.7% | 35.8% |
| 2023-24 | 54.6% | 27.3% |
% 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
49.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.0%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 Cary Jr High School
Cary Jr High School's state test result (49.6% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cary Jr High School this school | 761 | 28.5% | 49.6% |
| Antioch Upper Grade School Antioch | 875 | 30.7% | 48.4% |
| Minooka Intermediate School Minooka | 941 | 27.1% | 48.7% |
| Richard F Bernotas Middle School Crystal Lake | 737 | 28.0% | 46.6% |
| Sycamore Middle School Sycamore | 847 | 25.9% | 46.6% |
| Yorkville Intermediate School Yorkville | 638 | 31.7% | 39.0% |
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 Cary Jr High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In McHenry County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.6% | #203 of 578 | #7 of 17 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.8% | #282 of 640 ▲ 4 | #10 of 17 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 59.7% | #298 of 640 ▼ 58 | #8 of 17 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 761 | #100 of 691 | #4 of 18 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.5:1 | #231 of 558 | #7 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.4% | #295 of 560 | #10 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 28.5% | #470 of 581 | #11 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -15.4% | #160 of 440 | #8 of 14 |
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
761
-35 (-4%) vs 2020
+16% since 1990-91, when it was 657
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 | 761 | 61 | 12.5:1 | 29% (217) |
| 2023-24 | 745 | 61 | 12.2:1 | 28% (210) |
| 2022-23 | 681 | 56 | 12.2:1 | 27% (187) |
| 2020-21 | 796 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 899 | 57.8 | 15.6:1 | 21% (186) |
| 2015-16 | 920 | 58 | 15.9:1 | 19% (179) |
| 2010-11 | 764 | 30 | 25.5:1 | 16% (124) |
| 2000-01 | 761 | 44 | 17.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 657 | 35 | 18.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cary Jr High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (899 to 761); teachers up 5% (57.8 to 61).
About Cary Jr High School
Cary Jr High School is a middle-grades school in Cary, Illinois, and it is part of Cary CCSD 26. It is open to students in grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 761 students. It has 65% more students than the average for middle schools in Illinois (about 462).
Cary Jr High School belongs to Cary CCSD 26, a district of 5 schools and 2,372 students.
About 70% of the student body at Cary Jr High School is White. Other groups include 24% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. By comparison, McHenry County residents are about 80% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 45, compared with 70 nationally.
Based on 61 full-time-equivalent teachers, Cary Jr High School has a ratio of 12.5:1. That is in line with the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 29%.
On the allk12 Grade, Cary Jr High School lands at B-, ahead of 48% of Illinois public middle schools.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Cary Jr High School falls in the middle 80% of Illinois schools: 49.6% actual against 55.0% predicted.
McHenry County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $104,802, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 35%, and roughly 4% of residents are in poverty. There are 89 public schools in the county, enrolling about 50,123, Cary Jr High School among them.
Cary Jr High School is about 0.2 miles from Deer Path Elementary School, its nearest public school. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Cary Jr High School is 7th of 8 on proficiency.
The NCES locale for Cary Jr High School is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's enrollment fell 4% from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
The allk12 page for Cary Jr High School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
McHenry County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
312,591
Census ACS
Median income
$104,802
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
89
50,123 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cary CCSD 26
- Deer Path Elementary SchoolElementary · 452 students
- Three Oaks SchoolElementary · 443 students
- Briargate Elementary SchoolElementary · 400 students
- Oak Knoll Early Childhood CenterElementary · 316 students
Other schools in Cary
- Cary-Grove Community High SchoolHigh · 1,348 students
- Deer Path Elementary SchoolElementary · 452 students
- Three Oaks SchoolElementary · 443 students
- Briargate Elementary SchoolElementary · 400 students
- Oak Knoll Early Childhood CenterElementary · 316 students
Nearby schools
- Deer Path Elementary School0.2 mi · 452
- Cary-Grove Community High School0.6 mi · 1,348
- Three Oaks School0.8 mi · 443
- Oak Knoll Early Childhood Center1.1 mi · 316
- Briargate Elementary School1.8 mi · 400
- Prairie Grove Junior High School2.3 mi · 357
Frequently asked questions
About Cary Jr High SchoolHow large is Cary Jr High School?
Cary Jr High School enrolls approximately 761 students in grades 06-08.
Is Cary Jr High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Cary Jr High School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Cary Jr High School have?
Cary Jr High School employs 61 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.5:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cary Jr High School?
At Cary Jr High School, the student body is approximately 70% White, 24% Hispanic, 0% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Cary Jr High School in?
Cary Jr High School is part of Cary CCSD 26.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.