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What's the biggest difference between Hester Jr High School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
426
Middle
DISTRICT 314 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FRANKLIN PARK SD 84·NCES 171578001887
Hester Jr High School
2836 Gustav St, Franklin Park, IL 60131 · (847) 455-2150 · Cook County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL426 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.4:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
63%
268 students
DISTRICT 63% · 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 | 134 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 146 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 146 | 34% |
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 40% · 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 Franklin Park SD 84. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
63.3%
IL avg 51.0% . +9.7pp since 2023
Math
37.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +14.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 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 14 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 63.3% | 37.2% |
| 2023-24 | 53.6% | 22.9% |
% 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
46.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.2%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 →
Where Hester Jr High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #252 of 578 | #39 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.2% | #265 of 640 | #62 of 146 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 63.3% | #249 of 640 | #58 of 146 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 426 | #347 of 691 | #97 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.7:1 | #250 of 558 | #79 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 42.1% | #321 of 560 | #90 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 62.9% | #153 of 581 | #59 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.5% | #124 of 127 | #39 of 40 |
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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
426
-35 (-8%) vs 2020
+35% since 1990-91, when it was 316
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 | 426 | 33.6 | 12.7:1 | 63% (268) |
| 2023-24 | 453 | 34.2 | 13.3:1 | 57% (260) |
| 2022-23 | 446 | 33 | 13.5:1 | 62% (275) |
| 2020-21 | 461 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 424 | 30.5 | 13.9:1 | 75% (316) |
| 2015-16 | 411 | 30 | 13.7:1 | 68% (280) |
| 2010-11 | 445 | 31 | 14.3:1 | 44% (194) |
| 2000-01 | 430 | 31 | 13.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 316 | 25 | 12.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hester Jr High School.
About Hester Jr High School
Hester Jr High School sits in Franklin Park, Illinois, and is classified as a middle school. Grades offered run from 6 through 8, with 426 students enrolled.
Hester Jr High School is among 4 schools run by Franklin Park SD 84, which serves 1,254 students.
At Hester Jr High School, Hispanic students make up 73% of the student body. The next largest groups are 22% White and 4% Asian. The school's Hispanic share is 46 points above the 27% share among Cook County residents. Pick two students at random and there is a 42% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school reports 33.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 12.7 students per teacher. For comparison, middle schools in Illinois average 13.0:1. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 63%.
After adjusting for student poverty, Hester Jr High School lands between the top and bottom 10% of Illinois schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 46.0%; the prediction is 35.2%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Cook County show that the median household income is $83,498, about 43% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 10%. Besides Hester Jr High School, Cook County has 1,405 other public schools.
The closest other public school is Passow Elementary School, less than a tenth of a mile away. Hester Jr High School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Hester Jr High School ranks 3rd of 9 nearby schools, at 46.0% versus a 41.6% average.
For locale, NCES codes Hester Jr High School as Suburb: Large.
Enrollment has fallen by 35 students since 2020-21, to 426.
Community posts for Hester Jr High School can cover enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Franklin Park SD 84
- Passow Elementary SchoolElementary · 387 students
- Dan H Pietrini Elementary SchoolElementary · 242 students
- North Elementary SchoolElementary · 199 students
Other schools in Franklin Park
- East Leyden High SchoolHigh · 1,840 students
- Passow Elementary SchoolElementary · 387 students
- Dan H Pietrini Elementary SchoolElementary · 242 students
- North Elementary SchoolElementary · 199 students
- Enger SchoolElementary
- Phoenix AcademyElementary
Nearby schools
- Passow Elementary School0.1 mi · 387
- Dan H Pietrini Elementary School0.6 mi · 242
- North Elementary School0.6 mi · 199
- East Leyden High School0.8 mi · 1,840
- Scott Elementary School0.8 mi · 385
- Mannheim Middle School1.1 mi · 768
Frequently asked questions
About Hester Jr High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Hester Jr High School?
Hester Jr High School enrolls approximately 426 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Hester Jr High School serve?
Hester Jr High School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Hester Jr High School?
Approximately 12.7:1 students per teacher at Hester Jr High School.
How diverse is Hester Jr High School?
Hester Jr High School reports a student body of 22% White, 73% Hispanic, 1% Black, 4% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Hester Jr High School public or private?
Hester Jr High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Franklin Park SD 84.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.