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What's the most underrated thing about Michelle Obama Sch of Technology that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
428
Middle
DISTRICT 398 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PARK FOREST SD 163·NCES 173081003209
Michelle Obama School of Technology
530 Lakewood Blvd, Park Forest, IL 60466 · (708) 668-9600 · Cook County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL428 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 16% 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.
- C+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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.8:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
338 students
DISTRICT 80% · 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 | 106 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 159 | 37% |
| Grade 8 | 163 | 38% |
Student demographics
31%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 38% · 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
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
38.6%
IL avg 51.0% . +13.1pp since 2023
Math
10.3%
IL avg 37.9% . +2.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 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 13 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 38.6% | 10.3% |
| 2023-24 | 25.5% | 7.8% |
% 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
22.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.9%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% 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 Michelle Obama School of Technology
Michelle Obama School of Technology's state test result (22.4% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michelle Obama School of Technology this school | 428 | 79.0% | 22.4% |
| Barack Obama School of Ldership Chicago Heights | 367 | 80.7% | 29.4% |
| Wirth/Parks Middle School Cahokia | 571 | 81.6% | 8.5% |
| McKinley Jr High School South Holland | 287 | 77.4% | 33.6% |
| Sauk Elementary School Richton Park | 281 | 74.4% | 25.8% |
| Southwood Middle School Country Club Hills | 283 | 70.3% | 19.2% |
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 Michelle Obama School of Technology ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #505 of 578 | #96 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.3% | #591 of 640 ▼ 23 | #133 of 146 ▼ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 38.6% | #507 of 640 ▲ 24 | #108 of 146 ▲ 7 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 428 | #345 of 691 | #96 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.3:1 | #109 of 558 | #43 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 30.9% | #399 of 560 | #111 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.0% | #67 of 581 | #32 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -26.7% | #38 of 440 | #16 of 97 |
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
428
-85 (-17%) vs 2020
-45% since 1990-91, when it was 773
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 | 428 | 38 | 11.3:1 | 79% (338) |
| 2023-24 | 496 | 36.6 | 13.6:1 | 78% (385) |
| 2022-23 | 484 | 44.9 | 10.8:1 | 72% (349) |
| 2020-21 | 513 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 584 | 40.4 | 14.5:1 | 82% (478) |
| 2015-16 | 579 | 35 | 16.5:1 | 88% (508) |
| 2010-11 | 599 | 41 | 14.6:1 | 85% (508) |
| 2000-01 | 635 | 40 | 15.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 773 | 41 | 18.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Michelle Obama School of Technology.
Since 2017-18: students down 27% (584 to 428); teachers down 6% (40.4 to 38).
About Michelle Obama School of Technology
A mid-sized middle school in Park Forest, Illinois, Michelle Obama School of Technology is part of Park Forest SD 163. The school enrolls 428 students in grades 6 through 8.
Park Forest SD 163 counts 6 schools and 1,524 students, including Michelle Obama School of Technology.
The share of Black students at Michelle Obama School of Technology is 82%. The remaining shares are 10% Hispanic and 6% multiracial. Cook County as a whole is about 22% Black, so the school's share is higher. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 31%.
For every teacher at Michelle Obama School of Technology, there are about 11.3 students; the school has 38 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for middle schools in Illinois, 13.0:1, is higher. There are 338 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 79% of enrollment. Compared with the 66% average for public schools in Cook County, the school's rate is higher.
Michelle Obama School of Technology holds a C- allk12 Grade, placing it above 16% of Illinois public middle schools.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Michelle Obama School of Technology would be expected to post about 25.9%. Its actual average proficiency rate across its state test results is 22.4%.
For the population of Cook County, median household income comes to about $83,498, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Cook County counts 1,406 public schools with about 697,934 students.
Mohawk Primary Center is about 0.5 miles away, making it the nearest public school. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Michelle Obama School of Technology at 7th of 8.
The NCES locale for Michelle Obama School of Technology 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.
Enrollment was 428 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 513.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 Park Forest SD 163
- Barack Obama School of LdershipMiddle · 367 students
- Mohawk Primary CenterElementary · 283 students
- Blackhawk Primary CenterElementary · 167 students
- 21st Century Primary CenterElementary · 152 students
- Algonquin Primary CenterElementary · 127 students
Other schools in Park Forest
- Illinois SchoolElementary · 391 students
- Talala Elementary SchoolElementary · 305 students
- Mohawk Primary CenterElementary · 283 students
- Indiana Elementary SchoolMiddle · 215 students
- Blackhawk Primary CenterElementary · 167 students
- 21st Century Primary CenterElementary · 152 students
Nearby schools
- Mohawk Primary Center0.5 mi · 283
- Richton Square School0.9 mi · 161
- 21st Century Primary Center0.9 mi · 152
- Indiana Elementary School1.1 mi · 215
- Blackhawk Primary Center1.1 mi · 167
- Matteson Elementary School1.2 mi · 420
Frequently asked questions
About Michelle Obama School of TechnologyHow large is Michelle Obama School of Technology?
Michelle Obama School of Technology enrolls approximately 428 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Michelle Obama School of Technology serve?
Michelle Obama School of Technology serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Michelle Obama School of Technology?
Approximately 11.3:1 students per teacher at Michelle Obama School of Technology.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Michelle Obama School of Technology?
At Michelle Obama School of Technology, the student body is approximately 1% White, 10% Hispanic, 82% Black, 6% Two or more.
Is Michelle Obama School of Technology public or private?
Michelle Obama School of Technology is a public K-12 school, overseen by Park Forest SD 163.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.