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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Colin Powell Middle Sch administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
564
Middle
DISTRICT 331 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ESD 159·NCES 173630005774
Colin Powell Middle School
20600 Matteson Ave, Matteson, IL 60443 · (708) 283-9600 · Cook County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL564 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.4:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.8:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
68%
385 students
DISTRICT 72% · 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 | 192 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 174 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 198 | 35% |
Student demographics
32%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 35% · 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 ESD 159. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
30.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +10.9pp since 2023
Math
10.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 30 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 11 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 30.0% | 10.6% |
| 2023-24 | 19.1% | 4.3% |
% 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
21.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% 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 Colin Powell Middle School
Colin Powell Middle School's state test result (21.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colin Powell Middle School this school | 564 | 68.3% | 21.6% |
| O W Huth Middle School Matteson | 421 | 68.2% | 32.3% |
| Heritage Middle School Lansing | 500 | 59.4% | 30.4% |
| Southwood Middle School Country Club Hills | 283 | 70.3% | 19.2% |
| Michelle Obama School of Technology Park Forest | 428 | 79.0% | 22.4% |
| Sauk Elementary School Richton Park | 281 | 74.4% | 25.8% |
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 Colin Powell Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 21.6% | #512 of 578 | #98 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.6% | #590 of 640 ▲ 19 | #132 of 146 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 30.0% | #569 of 640 ▲ 11 | #131 of 146 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 564 | #242 of 691 | #68 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.4:1 | #316 of 558 | #90 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 32.1% | #388 of 560 | #107 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 68.3% | #114 of 581 | #47 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.8% | #206 of 440 | #46 of 97 |
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
564
-104 (-16%) vs 2020
-26% since 2010-11, when it was 759
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 | 564 | 42.2 | 13.4:1 | 68% (385) |
| 2023-24 | 571 | 44.2 | 12.9:1 | 65% (373) |
| 2022-23 | 586 | 41.1 | 14.3:1 | 59% (343) |
| 2020-21 | 668 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 647 | 51.5 | 12.6:1 | 77% (500) |
| 2015-16 | 653 | 45 | 14.5:1 | 77% (500) |
| 2010-11 | 759 | 47 | 16.1:1 | 67% (512) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Colin Powell Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (647 to 564); teachers down 18% (51.5 to 42.2).
About Colin Powell Middle School
At 20600 Matteson Ave in Matteson, Illinois, Colin Powell Middle School operates as a medium-sized middle school. Enrollment is 564 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 6 through 8. The average for middle schools in Illinois is about 462 students, so this school is 22% above average.
ESD 159 has 1,653 students spread across 5 schools.
The student body at Colin Powell Middle School is 81% Black. The rest of enrollment is 12% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. Among all residents of Cook County, the Black share is about 22%. The school's diversity index is 32%, meaning two students picked at random have a 32% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Colin Powell Middle School employs 42.2 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 13.4:1. That is close to the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 68% in 2024-25. That tracks the 66% average for public schools in Cook County.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Colin Powell Middle School, the prediction is 32.1% and the result is 21.6%.
Census Bureau estimates for Cook County show that the median household income is $83,498, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. There are 1,406 public schools in Cook County, enrolling about 697,934 students in all.
Nearby, Sieden Prairie Elementary School is about 0.6 miles away. Within five miles of Colin Powell Middle School, there are at least 8 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 26.7%; Colin Powell Middle School's is 21.6%, ranking 6th of 9.
Colin Powell Middle School has an NCES locale of Suburb: Large.
Enrollment is down 16% from 2020-21, when Colin Powell Middle School had 668 students, to 2024-25, when it had 564.
The Colin Powell Middle School community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Cook County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,182,090
Census ACS
Median income
$83,498
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
1,406
697,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in ESD 159
- Marya Yates Elementary SchoolElementary · 284 students
- Sieden Prairie Elementary SchoolElementary · 279 students
- Neil Armstrong Elementary SchoolElementary · 266 students
- Woodgate Elementary SchoolElementary · 260 students
Other schools in Matteson
- O W Huth Middle SchoolMiddle · 421 students
- Matteson Elementary SchoolElementary · 420 students
- Marya Yates Elementary SchoolElementary · 284 students
- Sieden Prairie Elementary SchoolElementary · 279 students
- Woodgate Elementary SchoolElementary · 260 students
Nearby schools
- Sieden Prairie Elementary School0.6 mi · 279
- Woodgate Elementary School0.8 mi · 260
- Marya Yates Elementary School1.4 mi · 284
- Rich Township High School1.8 mi · 2,433
- O W Huth Middle School1.9 mi · 421
- Arcadia Elementary School2.0 mi · 516
Frequently asked questions
About Colin Powell Middle SchoolHow many students attend Colin Powell Middle School?
Colin Powell Middle School enrolls approximately 564 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Colin Powell Middle School serve?
Colin Powell Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Colin Powell Middle School?
Approximately 13.4:1 students per teacher at Colin Powell Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Colin Powell Middle School?
Student demographics at Colin Powell Middle School are roughly 1% White, 12% Hispanic, 81% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Colin Powell Middle School in?
Colin Powell Middle School is part of ESD 159.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.