Enrollment
168
High
DISTRICT 172 · STATE 834
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COWDEN-HERRICK CUSD 3A·NCES 170017602389
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School
633 County Highway 22, Cowden, IL 62422 · (217) 783-2125 · Shelby County
GRADES 06–12HIGH43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL168 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% of Illinois public high schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+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 high schools
Student : Teacher
9.9:1
17 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.8:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
64%
108 students
DISTRICT 62% · STATE 56%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 21 | 13% |
| Grade 7 | 26 | 15% |
| Grade 8 | 20 | 12% |
| Grade 9 | 22 | 13% |
| Grade 10 | 31 | 18% |
| Grade 11 | 19 | 11% |
| Grade 12 | 29 | 17% |
Student demographics
5%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 5% · 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 Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
76.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +4.6pp since 2023
Math
42.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +23.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 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 24 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 76.9% | 42.2% |
| 2023-24 | 72.3% | 18.5% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
51.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.4%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 34% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Illinois's top 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 Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School's state test result (51.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School this school | 168 | 64.3% | 51.2% |
| Ramsey High School Ramsey | 181 | 66.9% | 51.9% |
| Western High School Barry | 141 | 61.7% | 38.5% |
| West Central High School Biggsville | 212 | 62.3% | 17.8% |
| Sangamon Valley High School Niantic | 204 | 66.2% | 30.9% |
| Century Jr/Sr High School Ullin | 146 | 61.6% | 25.3% |
Matched among Illinois high 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 Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 51.2% | #82 of 573 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.2% | #15 of 75 ▲ 23 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 76.9% | #9 of 75 ▼ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 168 | #577 of 708 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 64.3% | #176 of 578 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.0% | #69 of 358 |
Ranked against other public high 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
168
-17 (-9%) vs 2020
+16% since 2000-01, when it was 145
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 | 168 | 17 | 9.9:1 | 64% (108) |
| 2023-24 | 170 | 16.5 | 10.3:1 | 67% (114) |
| 2022-23 | 165 | 19.2 | 8.6:1 | 68% (113) |
| 2020-21 | 185 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 205 | 16.4 | 12.5:1 | 62% (127) |
| 2015-16 | 225 | 16 | 14.1:1 | 66% (149) |
| 2010-11 | 125 | 10 | 12.5:1 | 48% (60) |
| 2000-01 | 145 | 13 | 11.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (205 to 168); teachers up 3% (16.4 to 17).
About Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School is one of the public schools in Cowden, Illinois. It is a very small high school. Students in grades 6 through 12 make up the school's enrollment of 168 students. That compares with an average of about 834 students for high schools in Illinois.
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School is among 2 schools run by Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A, which serves 343 students.
A large majority of enrollment at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School is White, at 98%. Among Shelby County residents, the White share is about 97%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School scores 5%.
For every teacher at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School, there are about 9.9 students; the school has 17 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, high schools in Illinois average 13.8:1. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 64%. For comparison, public schools in Shelby County average 46%.
Among Illinois public high schools, Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School outscored 88%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
Test results at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School are 16.8 points above what its student poverty level predicts. The average proficiency rate across its state test results is 51.2%, compared with a predicted 34.4%, which ranks in the top 10% in Illinois.
In the wider Shelby County area, the median household earns about $72,095 a year, about 18% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School shares Shelby County with 13 other public schools.
Beecher City Jr-Sr High School is about 5.2 miles from Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School, the shortest distance to any other public school. Other public schools within ten miles: 3. Nearby schools with test data average 53.4% proficiency; Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School posts 51.2%.
The federal government classifies Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School's location as Rural: Remote.
Enrollment figures show a decline of 17 students from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
People who know Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Shelby County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
20,720
Census ACS
Median income
$72,095
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
14
2,922 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A
- Cowden-Herrick Grade SchoolElementary · 175 students
Nearby schools
- Beecher City Jr-Sr High School5.2 mi · 165
- Beecher City Grade School5.6 mi · 196
- Cowden-Herrick Grade School6.6 mi · 175
- Shelbyville Kindergarten Center11.9 mi · 78
- Main Street Elementary School11.9 mi · 370
- Moulton Elementary School12.2 mi · 455
Frequently asked questions
About Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School?
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School enrolls approximately 168 students in grades 06-12.
What age range does Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School serve?
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School serves students from grade 06 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School is approximately 9.9:1 (17 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School?
At Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School, the student body is approximately 98% White, 1% Black, 1% Asian.
Is Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School public or private?
Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.