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If you had an hour of school board time for Jefferson Elem School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
698
Middle
DISTRICT 550 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHARLESTON CUSD 1·NCES 170960000569
Jefferson Elementary School
801 Jefferson Ave, Charleston, IL 61920 · (217) 639-7000 · Coles County
GRADES 04–06MIDDLE33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL698 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 15% of Illinois public middle schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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
16.1:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
52%
360 students
DISTRICT 50% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 126 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 4 | 189 | 27% |
| Grade 5 | 206 | 30% |
| Grade 6 | 175 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 1 | 0% |
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Charleston CUSD 1. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
45.2%
IL avg 51.0% . +15.1pp since 2023
Math
23.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +12.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 23 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 15 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.2% | 23.0% |
| 2023-24 | 30.1% | 10.2% |
% 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
32.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 42% 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 Jefferson Elementary School
Jefferson Elementary School's state test result (32.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Elementary School this school | 698 | 51.6% | 32.4% |
| Jacksonville Middle School Jacksonville | 680 | 54.9% | 37.3% |
| Marion Jr High School Marion | 742 | 56.7% | 36.2% |
| Reagan Middle School Dixon | 585 | 55.0% | 39.6% |
| Liberty Intermediate School Bourbonnais | 714 | 53.5% | 51.9% |
| Macomb Middle School Macomb | 479 | 50.7% | 35.2% |
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 Jefferson Elementary School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.4% | #411 of 578 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 23.0% | #452 of 640 ▲ 76 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.2% | #457 of 640 ▲ 39 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 698 | #143 of 691 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #491 of 558 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 41.9% | #323 of 560 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 51.6% | #276 of 581 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.7% | #92 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
698
+56 (+9%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 841
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 | 698 | 43.5 | 16.1:1 | 52% (360) |
| 2023-24 | 663 | 39 | 17.0:1 | 50% (334) |
| 2022-23 | 635 | 35.8 | 17.7:1 | 48% (306) |
| 2020-21 | 642 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 673 | 33 | 20.4:1 | 45% (303) |
| 2015-16 | 693 | 36 | 19.3:1 | 46% (320) |
| 2010-11 | 669 | 34 | 19.7:1 | 45% (301) |
| 2000-01 | 629 | 39 | 16.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 841 | 39 | 21.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Jefferson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (673 to 698); teachers up 32% (33 to 43.5).
About Jefferson Elementary School
Jefferson Elementary School is a large middle school in Charleston, Illinois, (ZIP code 61920). The school covers grades 4 through 6 and reported 698 students in 2024-25. On average, middle schools in Illinois enroll around 462, and this school is 51% bigger than that mark.
Charleston CUSD 1 enrolls 2,744 students in 6 schools, including Jefferson Elementary School.
About 75% of the student body at Jefferson Elementary School is White. Enrollment also includes 10% Black, 7% Hispanic, and 6% multiracial. Among people living in Coles County, the White share is about 90%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 42, compared with 70 nationally.
Jefferson Elementary School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.1:1, with 43.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Compared with the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois, this school's ratio is higher. The school has 52% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in Coles County is close, at 55%.
Jefferson Elementary School earns a C- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 15% of Illinois public middle schools.
Jefferson Elementary School scores 32.4% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 41.7%.
In Coles County, home to about 46,777 people, median household income comes to about $56,478, 27% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 12% of people live in poverty. There are 23 public schools in the county, enrolling about 5,973, Jefferson Elementary School among them.
Charleston Middle School is the nearest public school to Jefferson Elementary School, about 0.8 miles away. Within five miles of Jefferson Elementary School, there are 4 other public schools. On proficiency, Jefferson Elementary School is behind the 37.9% nearby average, ranking 6th of 7.
NCES lists the school's locale as Town: Remote. That means it sits in a town far from an urbanized area.
Federal enrollment counts rose from 642 (2020-21) to 698 (2024-25).
Jefferson Elementary School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Coles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
46,777
Census ACS
Median income
$56,478
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
23
5,973 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Charleston CUSD 1
- Charleston High SchoolHigh · 795 students
- Carl Sandburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
- Charleston Middle SchoolMiddle · 401 students
- Mark Twain Elementary SchoolElementary · 221 students
- Ashmore Elementary SchoolElementary · 74 students
Other schools in Charleston
- Charleston High SchoolHigh · 795 students
- Carl Sandburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
- Charleston Middle SchoolMiddle · 401 students
- Mark Twain Elementary SchoolElementary · 221 students
- Lerna TAOEPHigh
- Shelbyville TAOEPHigh
Other Jefferson Elementary schools
143 other US public schools in 31 states are named Jefferson Elementary. Jefferson Elementary School is the 4th largest of the 144.
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolBerwyn, IL · 453 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolSterling, IL · 450 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolMarion, IL · 376 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolMorton, IL · 354 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolDixon, IL · 344 students
Nearby schools
- Charleston Middle School0.8 mi · 401
- Mark Twain Elementary School0.8 mi · 221
- Charleston High School1.0 mi · 795
- Carl Sandburg Elementary School1.7 mi · 555
- Ashmore Elementary School8.5 mi · 74
- Franklin Elementary School10.1 mi · 243
Frequently asked questions
About Jefferson Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Jefferson Elementary School?
Jefferson Elementary School enrolls approximately 698 students in grades 04-06.
Is Jefferson Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Jefferson Elementary School is a middle school covering grades 04-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Jefferson Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Jefferson Elementary School is approximately 16.1:1 (44 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Jefferson Elementary School?
Jefferson Elementary School reports a student body of 75% White, 7% Hispanic, 10% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Jefferson Elementary School?
Jefferson Elementary School is overseen by Charleston CUSD 1 in Coles County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.