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What advice would you give to incoming students at Charleston Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
401
Middle
DISTRICT 550 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHARLESTON CUSD 1·NCES 170960000568
Charleston Middle School
920 Smith Dr, Charleston, IL 61920 · (217) 639-6000 · Coles County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL401 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 36% of Illinois public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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
13.4:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
193 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 56%
Community
4
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 7 | 189 | 47% |
| Grade 8 | 204 | 51% |
| Grade 9 | 8 | 2% |
Student demographics
40%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
Students here typically continue to
Charleston Middle School→Charleston High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Charleston CUSD 1. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
54.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +10.3pp since 2023
Math
20.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +4.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 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 10 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 54.8% | 20.2% |
| 2023-24 | 44.5% | 16.0% |
% 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
39.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 Charleston Middle School
Charleston Middle School's state test result (39.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Middle School this school | 401 | 48.1% | 39.9% |
| Central Jr High School East Peoria | 434 | 46.5% | 38.4% |
| Carterville Jr High School Carterville | 344 | 45.3% | 58.0% |
| Pontiac Jr High School Pontiac | 326 | 50.0% | 26.0% |
| Macomb Middle School Macomb | 479 | 50.7% | 35.2% |
| Carterville Intermediate School Carterville | 500 | 46.8% | 65.7% |
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 Charleston Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.9% | #329 of 578 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.2% | #479 of 640 ▼ 22 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 54.8% | #346 of 640 ▲ 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 401 | #362 of 691 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.4:1 | #318 of 558 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 40.1% | #333 of 560 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 48.1% | #311 of 581 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.0% | #427 of 440 |
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
401
+6 (+2%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 481
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 | 401 | 30 | 13.4:1 | 48% (193) |
| 2023-24 | 395 | 28.5 | 13.9:1 | 55% (216) |
| 2022-23 | 399 | 28.5 | 14.0:1 | 51% (203) |
| 2020-21 | 395 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 405 | 25.5 | 15.9:1 | 41% (168) |
| 2015-16 | 398 | 27 | 14.7:1 | 41% (164) |
| 2010-11 | 385 | 28 | 13.8:1 | 45% (174) |
| 2000-01 | 471 | 33 | 14.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 481 | 29 | 16.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Charleston Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (405 to 401); teachers up 18% (25.5 to 30).
About Charleston Middle School
Charleston Middle School is a medium-sized middle school serving families in Charleston, Illinois. The school enrolls 401 students, from grades 7 through 8.
Charleston CUSD 1 has 6 schools and 2,744 students, and Charleston Middle School is one of those schools.
At 76%, White students outnumber all other groups at Charleston Middle School combined. After that, the student body is 8% Black, 8% multiracial, and 6% Hispanic. Among all residents of Coles County, the White share is about 90%. Charleston Middle School has a diversity index of 40%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 13.4:1, with 30 full-time-equivalent teachers. Across middle schools in Illinois, the average ratio is about 13.0:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Charleston Middle School is 48%.
Measured against Illinois public middle schools, Charleston Middle School receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Charleston Middle School is -3.9 points: 39.9% actual, 43.7% predicted.
Census estimates describe Coles County this way: median household income is about $56,478, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 27% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 12%. Federal data list 23 public schools in Coles County, with a combined enrollment of about 5,973.
The nearest other public school, Mark Twain Elementary School, is about 0.2 miles away. In all, 4 other public schools sit within five miles of Charleston Middle School. On state test proficiency, Charleston Middle School ranks 3rd in a group of 7 nearby schools.
Federal data place Charleston Middle School in the Town: Remote locale, which means it is in a town far from an urbanized area.
The school's size has been steady, with 395 students in 2020-21 and 401 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Coles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
46,777
Census ACS
Median income
$56,478
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
23
5,973 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Charleston CUSD 1
- Charleston High SchoolHigh · 795 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolMiddle · 698 students
- Carl Sandburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
- Mark Twain Elementary SchoolElementary · 221 students
- Ashmore Elementary SchoolElementary · 74 students
Other schools in Charleston
- Charleston High SchoolHigh · 795 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolMiddle · 698 students
- Carl Sandburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
- Mark Twain Elementary SchoolElementary · 221 students
- Lerna TAOEPHigh
- Shelbyville TAOEPHigh
Other Charleston Middle schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Charleston Middle. Charleston Middle School is the largest of the 3.
- Charleston Middle SchoolCHARLESTON, MS · 208 students
- CHARLESTON MIDDLE SCHOOLCHARLESTON, MO · 141 students
Nearby schools
- Mark Twain Elementary School0.2 mi · 221
- Charleston High School0.2 mi · 795
- Jefferson Elementary School0.8 mi · 698
- Carl Sandburg Elementary School1.6 mi · 555
- Ashmore Elementary School8.3 mi · 74
- Franklin Elementary School10.5 mi · 243
Frequently asked questions
About Charleston Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Charleston Middle School?
Charleston Middle School enrolls approximately 401 students in grades 07-08.
What age range does Charleston Middle School serve?
Charleston Middle School serves students from grade 07 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Charleston Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Charleston Middle School is approximately 13.4:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Charleston Middle School?
At Charleston Middle School, the student body is approximately 76% White, 6% Hispanic, 8% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Charleston Middle School?
Charleston Middle School is overseen by Charleston CUSD 1 in Coles County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.