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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Edith M Smith Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
493
Middle
DISTRICT 585 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUKEGAN CUSD 60·NCES 174125004124
Edith M Smith Middle School
930 New York St, Waukegan, IL 60085 · (224) 303-2760 · Lake County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL493 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 0% of Illinois public middle schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
11.2:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.5:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
72%
356 students
DISTRICT 70% · 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 | 158 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 170 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 165 | 33% |
Student demographics
32%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 32% · 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
Edith M Smith Middle School→Waukegan High School
Based on grade levels within Waukegan CUSD 60. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
13.0%
IL avg 51.0% . -1.7pp since 2023
Math
6.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +1.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 13 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 7 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Illinois schools, those numbers are about 51 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 13.0% | 6.7% |
| 2023-24 | 14.7% | 5.7% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
11.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.8%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 12% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 30% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Edith M Smith Middle School
Edith M Smith Middle School's state test result (11.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edith M Smith Middle School this school | 493 | 72.2% | 11.9% |
| Heritage Middle School Berwyn | 447 | 73.6% | 47.6% |
| Ellis Middle School Elgin | 496 | 72.4% | 22.8% |
| Robert E Abbott Middle School Waukegan | 585 | 71.1% | 15.5% |
| Miguel Juarez Middle School Waukegan | 651 | 69.6% | 12.7% |
| John R Lewis Middle School Waukegan | 721 | 74.1% | 26.7% |
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 Edith M Smith Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 11.9% | #570 of 578 | #31 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 6.7% | #620 of 640 ▼ 19 | #43 of 44 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 13.0% | #637 of 640 ▼ 27 | #44 of 44 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 493 | #297 of 691 | #28 of 44 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.2:1 | #105 of 558 | #18 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 31.8% | #390 of 560 | #38 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 72.2% | #93 of 581 | #7 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.2% | #83 of 440 | #9 of 34 |
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
493
-118 (-19%) vs 2020
-20% since 1990-91, when it was 614
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 | 493 | 44 | 11.2:1 | 72% (356) |
| 2023-24 | 489 | 26 | 18.8:1 | 75% (366) |
| 2022-23 | 503 | 47.5 | 10.6:1 | 72% (361) |
| 2020-21 | 611 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 626 | 40 | 15.7:1 | 77% (479) |
| 2015-16 | 636 | 40 | 15.9:1 | 59% (373) |
| 2010-11 | 618 | 54 | 11.4:1 | 73% (449) |
| 2000-01 | 601 | 38 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 614 | 34 | 18.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Edith M Smith Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (626 to 493); teachers up 10% (40 to 44).
About Edith M Smith Middle School
Edith M Smith Middle School is a public middle school in Waukegan, Illinois. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 493 students in grades 6 through 8.
Waukegan CUSD 60 enrolls 13,640 students in 22 schools, including Edith M Smith Middle School.
Edith M Smith Middle School's enrollment is 82% Hispanic. It is also 11% Black, 4% White, and 2% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Lake County is roughly 25% Hispanic. Edith M Smith Middle School's diversity index is 32%, against a US figure of 70%.
The teaching staff at Edith M Smith Middle School is 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 11.2:1. This ratio sits 1.8 below the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 72%. The gap from the 54% average for public schools in Lake County is 18 points.
allk12 grades Edith M Smith Middle School an F. The grade compares the school only with Illinois public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Edith M Smith Middle School scores 17.9 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 11.9% actual versus 29.8% predicted. That puts it in the bottom 10% of Illinois schools on BeatsExpectations.
Lake County census figures show that the median household income is $110,416, roughly 48% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 214 public schools in Lake County, enrolling about 118,032 students in all.
Nearby, Whittier Elementary School is about 0.2 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Edith M Smith Middle School ranks 7th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 11.9% against a local average of 21.7%.
The federal government classifies Edith M Smith Middle School's location as Suburb: Large.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 118 fewer students in 2024-25.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Lake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
714,223
Census ACS
Median income
$110,416
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
48%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
214
118,032 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Waukegan CUSD 60
- Waukegan High SchoolHigh · 4,186 students
- John R Lewis Middle SchoolMiddle · 721 students
- Miguel Juarez Middle SchoolMiddle · 651 students
- Robert E Abbott Middle SchoolMiddle · 585 students
- Glenwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 577 students
- Carman-Buckner Elementary SchoolElementary · 509 students
Other schools in Waukegan
- Waukegan High SchoolHigh · 4,186 students
- John R Lewis Middle SchoolMiddle · 721 students
- Miguel Juarez Middle SchoolMiddle · 651 students
- Robert E Abbott Middle SchoolMiddle · 585 students
- Glenwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 577 students
- LEARN John Kathy Schreiber ChrtrElementary · 519 students
Nearby schools
- Whittier Elementary School0.2 mi · 438
- LEARN John Kathy Schreiber Chrtr0.5 mi · 519
- Hyde Park Elementary School0.5 mi · 295
- Glen Flora Elementary School0.5 mi · 476
- Glenwood Elementary School0.7 mi · 577
- Miguel Juarez Middle School0.7 mi · 651
Frequently asked questions
About Edith M Smith Middle SchoolHow large is Edith M Smith Middle School?
Edith M Smith Middle School enrolls approximately 493 students in grades 06-08.
Is Edith M Smith Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Edith M Smith Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Edith M Smith Middle School?
Approximately 11.2:1 students per teacher at Edith M Smith Middle School.
How diverse is Edith M Smith Middle School?
Edith M Smith Middle School reports a student body of 4% White, 82% Hispanic, 11% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Edith M Smith Middle School in?
Edith M Smith Middle School is part of Waukegan CUSD 60.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.