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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Jack Benny Middle School this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
475
Middle
DISTRICT 585 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUKEGAN CUSD 60·NCES 174125004131
Jack Benny Middle School
1401 Montesano Ave, Waukegan, IL 60087 · (224) 303-2470 · Lake County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL475 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 2% of Illinois public middle schools
- DTest 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
12.5:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.5:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
62%
295 students
DISTRICT 70% · STATE 56%
Community
6
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 | 139 | 29% |
| Grade 7 | 164 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 172 | 36% |
Student demographics
42%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
Jack Benny 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
20.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +7.9pp since 2023
Math
12.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 21 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 20.9% | 12.2% |
| 2023-24 | 13.0% | 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
17.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.6%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-18.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 17% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 36% 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 Jack Benny Middle School
Jack Benny Middle School's state test result (17.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Benny Middle School this school | 475 | 62.1% | 17.3% |
| Larsen Middle School Elgin | 570 | 62.8% | 23.4% |
| Jefferson Middle School Aurora | 577 | 62.2% | 34.1% |
| Tefft Middle School Streamwood | 606 | 64.2% | 30.1% |
| Abbott Middle School Elgin | 551 | 69.3% | 19.4% |
| Hester Jr High School Franklin Park | 426 | 62.9% | 46.0% |
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 Jack Benny Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 17.3% | #540 of 578 | #25 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.2% | #571 of 640 ▲ 31 | #34 of 44 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 20.9% | #618 of 640 ▲ 6 | #40 of 44 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 475 | #310 of 691 | #30 of 44 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.5:1 | #232 of 558 | #29 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 41.8% | #325 of 560 | #31 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 62.1% | #165 of 581 | #10 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.7% | #71 of 440 | #6 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
475
-144 (-23%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 560
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 | 475 | 38 | 12.5:1 | 62% (295) |
| 2023-24 | 506 | 18 | 28.1:1 | 64% (325) |
| 2022-23 | 529 | 34 | 15.6:1 | 61% (324) |
| 2020-21 | 619 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 607 | 44 | 13.8:1 | 57% (346) |
| 2015-16 | 626 | 45 | 13.9:1 | 46% (288) |
| 2010-11 | 618 | 44 | 14.1:1 | 66% (407) |
| 2000-01 | 560 | 41 | 13.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 560 | 41 | 13.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Jack Benny Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (607 to 475); teachers down 14% (44 to 38).
About Jack Benny Middle School
Jack Benny Middle School runs as a mid-sized middle school in Waukegan, Illinois. It reports enrollment of 475 students in grades 6 through 8.
Federal data list 22 schools in Waukegan CUSD 60, with 13,640 students enrolled.
Of every 100 students at Jack Benny Middle School, about 75 are Hispanic. Other reported shares: 10% Black, 7% Asian, 4% White, and 2% multiracial. Lake County's residents are about 25% Hispanic, 50 points below the school's share. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 42%.
There are 38 full-time-equivalent teachers at Jack Benny Middle School, giving a ratio of 12.5:1. That is in line with the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois. A total of 295 students, or 62%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, Jack Benny Middle School lands at F, ahead of 2% of Illinois public middle schools.
Compared with Illinois schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Jack Benny Middle School scores 18.4 points lower than predicted. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 17.3%; the prediction is 35.6%.
In Lake County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $110,416, about 48% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. The county has 214 public schools and about 118,032 students.
Jack Benny Middle School's closest public school neighbor is Little Fort Elementary School, about 0.3 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Jack Benny Middle School ranks 6th of 8 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 17.3% against a local average of 27.9%.
The NCES locale for Jack Benny Middle School is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 475, down from 619 in 2020-21.
This page collects posts and questions about Jack Benny Middle School, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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
- Little Fort Elementary School0.3 mi · 421
- John S Clark Elementary School0.5 mi · 262
- Greenwood Elementary School0.8 mi · 318
- Clearview Elementary School1.1 mi · 404
- Oakdale Elementary School1.1 mi · 505
- Early Learning Center1.1 mi · 221
Frequently asked questions
About Jack Benny Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Jack Benny Middle School?
Jack Benny Middle School enrolls approximately 475 students in grades 06-08.
Is Jack Benny Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Jack Benny Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Jack Benny Middle School have?
Jack Benny Middle School employs 38 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.5:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Jack Benny Middle School?
At Jack Benny Middle School, the student body is approximately 4% White, 75% Hispanic, 10% Black, 7% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Jack Benny Middle School?
Jack Benny Middle School is overseen by Waukegan CUSD 60 in Lake County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.