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What advice would you give to incoming students at Columbia Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
612
Middle
DISTRICT 476 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COLUMBIA CUSD 4·NCES 171074001294
Columbia Middle School
100 Eagle Dr, Columbia, IL 62236 · (618) 281-4993 · Monroe County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL612 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 90% of Illinois public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
16.4:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.8:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
17%
106 students
DISTRICT 16% · 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 5 | 145 | 24% |
| Grade 6 | 145 | 24% |
| Grade 7 | 171 | 28% |
| Grade 8 | 151 | 25% |
Student demographics
16%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 15% · 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
Columbia Middle School→Columbia High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Columbia CUSD 4. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
81.2%
IL avg 51.0% . +17.1pp since 2023
Math
64.1%
IL avg 37.9% . +13.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 81 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 64 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 17 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 81.2% | 64.1% |
| 2023-24 | 64.1% | 51.1% |
% 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
71.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
61.5%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% 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 Columbia Middle School
Columbia Middle School's state test result (71.4% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Middle School this school | 612 | 17.3% | 71.4% |
| Waterloo Junior High School Waterloo | 613 | 18.3% | 62.9% |
| Morton Jr High School Morton | 504 | 15.9% | 72.5% |
| Manhattan Jr High School Manhattan | 615 | 16.9% | 61.9% |
| Williamsville Jr High School Williamsville | 444 | 18.0% | 67.8% |
| Central Intermediate School Washington | 649 | 11.6% | 70.5% |
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 Columbia Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 71.4% | #25 of 578 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 64.1% | #53 of 640 ▲ 18 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 81.2% | #66 of 640 ▲ 82 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 612 | #208 of 691 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.4:1 | #505 of 558 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.0% | #509 of 560 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.3% | #544 of 581 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.3% | #108 of 127 |
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
612
+49 (+9%) vs 2020
+208% since 1990-91, when it was 199
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 | 612 | 37.3 | 16.4:1 | 17% (106) |
| 2023-24 | 613 | 37.8 | 16.2:1 | 15% (95) |
| 2022-23 | 608 | 37 | 16.4:1 | 17% (101) |
| 2020-21 | 563 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 598 | 32.4 | 18.5:1 | 15% (89) |
| 2015-16 | 597 | 30 | 19.9:1 | 13% (80) |
| 2010-11 | 617 | 32 | 19.3:1 | 12% (73) |
| 2000-01 | 479 | 30 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 199 | 9 | 22.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Columbia Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (598 to 612); teachers up 15% (32.4 to 37.3).
About Columbia Middle School
Families in Columbia, Illinois, are served by Columbia Middle School, a mid-sized middle-grades school. It reported 612 students in grades 5 through 8 in 2024-25. By comparison, middle schools in Illinois enroll about 462 students on average.
Columbia CUSD 4 is made up of 4 schools with 1,904 students in all.
White students are 92% of those enrolled at Columbia Middle School. The rest of enrollment is 4% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 16, compared with 70 nationally.
A staff of 37.3 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 16.4:1. The average for middle schools in Illinois, 13.0:1, is lower. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 17%. That is in line with the 19% average for public schools in Monroe County.
Columbia Middle School earns an A on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 90% of Illinois public middle schools.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Columbia Middle School is 61.5%, and its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 71.4%.
In Monroe County, median household income comes to about $102,880, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 39% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 4%. Monroe County counts 14 public schools with about 5,006 students.
Columbia High School sits about 0.2 miles from Columbia Middle School. Columbia Middle School has 7 other public schools within five miles. Columbia Middle School comes in 3rd of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is Suburb: Large: the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school grew from 563 students in 2020-21 to 612 in 2024-25.
On allk12, people connected to Columbia Middle School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Monroe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,036
Census ACS
Median income
$102,880
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
14
5,006 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Columbia CUSD 4
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 606 students
- Parkview Elementary SchoolElementary · 427 students
- Eagleview Elementary SchoolElementary · 259 students
Other schools in Columbia
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 606 students
- Parkview Elementary SchoolElementary · 427 students
- Eagleview Elementary SchoolElementary · 259 students
Other Columbia Middle schools
10 other US public schools in 8 states are named Columbia Middle. Columbia Middle School is the 6th largest of the 11.
- Columbia Middle SchoolGrovetown, GA · 903 students
- Columbia Middle SchoolMOSES LAKE, WA · 875 students
- Columbia MiddleAdelanto, CA · 754 students
- Columbia MiddleSunnyvale, CA · 697 students
- Columbia Middle SchoolAURORA, CO · 636 students
Nearby schools
- Columbia High School0.2 mi · 606
- Parkview Elementary School0.4 mi · 427
- Eagleview Elementary School0.7 mi · 259
- Dupo High School4.8 mi · 259
- Dupo Jr High School4.8 mi · 124
- Bluffview Elementary School4.9 mi · 501
Frequently asked questions
About Columbia Middle SchoolHow large is Columbia Middle School?
Columbia Middle School enrolls approximately 612 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does Columbia Middle School serve?
Columbia Middle School serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Columbia Middle School?
Approximately 16.4:1 students per teacher at Columbia Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Columbia Middle School?
At Columbia Middle School, the student body is approximately 92% White, 4% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Columbia Middle School in?
Columbia Middle School is part of Columbia CUSD 4.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.