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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Nelson Ridge School this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
432
Middle
DISTRICT 482 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW LENOX SD 122·NCES 172814003778
Nelson Ridge School
2470 Nelson Rd, New Lenox, IL 60451 · (815) 462-2870 · Will County
GRADES 04–06MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL432 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.6:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.3:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
11%
48 students
DISTRICT 15% · 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 4 | 136 | 31% |
| Grade 5 | 143 | 33% |
| Grade 6 | 153 | 35% |
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
67.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +10.3pp since 2023
Math
54.4%
IL avg 37.9% . +5.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 68 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 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 5 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 67.8% | 54.4% |
| 2023-24 | 57.5% | 49.3% |
% 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
59.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.1%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% 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 Nelson Ridge School
Nelson Ridge School's state test result (59.3% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Ridge School this school | 432 | 11.1% | 59.3% |
| Alex M Martino Jr High School New Lenox | 591 | 10.8% | 58.8% |
| Bentley Elementary School New Lenox | 380 | 16.8% | 68.3% |
| Tri-Valley Middle School Downs | 450 | 8.7% | 69.2% |
| Mokena Jr High School Mokena | 502 | 16.9% | 67.2% |
| Pleasant Plains Middle School Pleasant Plains | 393 | 11.5% | 53.5% |
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 Nelson Ridge School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Will County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 59.3% | #102 of 578 | #14 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.4% | #114 of 640 ▼ 30 | #17 of 44 ▼ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 67.8% | #210 of 640 ▲ 8 | #27 of 44 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 432 | #340 of 691 | #35 of 44 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.6:1 | #547 of 558 | #42 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 32.6% | #386 of 560 | #37 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 11.1% | #571 of 581 | #34 of 39 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.7% | #294 of 440 | #27 of 36 |
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
432
-9 (-2%) vs 2020
-21% since 2000-01, when it was 549
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 | 432 | 22 | 19.6:1 | 11% (48) |
| 2023-24 | 455 | 24 | 19.0:1 | 14% (65) |
| 2022-23 | 470 | 26.3 | 17.9:1 | 13% (61) |
| 2020-21 | 441 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 468 | 25 | 18.7:1 | 12% (56) |
| 2015-16 | 488 | 22 | 22.2:1 | 9% (46) |
| 2010-11 | 541 | 23 | 23.5:1 | 14% (75) |
| 2000-01 | 549 | 24 | 22.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Nelson Ridge School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (468 to 432); teachers down 12% (25 to 22).
About Nelson Ridge School
Nelson Ridge School is the name of a medium-sized middle school in New Lenox, Illinois. The school serves 432 students in grades 4 through 6 in 2024-25.
The New Lenox SD 122 system has 12 schools and 4,956 students.
The large majority of students at Nelson Ridge School, 81%, are White. The next largest groups are 14% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. The school's White share is 18 points above the 62% share among Will County residents. By the diversity index, Nelson Ridge School comes in at 33%.
The school has about 19.6 students per teacher and 22 full-time-equivalent teachers. That ratio is over the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 11%. The rate at public schools in Will County averages 44%, higher than here.
Nelson Ridge School is 5.8 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (59.3% versus 65.1%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Illinois.
Nelson Ridge School is located in Will County, where median household income is about $109,984, 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Federal data list 209 public schools in Will County, with a combined enrollment of about 113,008.
The closest other public school is Nelson Prairie School, less than a tenth of a mile away. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 7 nearby schools with scores, Nelson Ridge School ranks 6th on average proficiency.
Federal data place Nelson Ridge School in the Suburb: Large locale, which means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The student count changed little between 2020-21 (441) and 2024-25 (432).
Discussions about Nelson Ridge School may include school safety, transportation, and start times. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Will County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
701,462
Census ACS
Median income
$109,984
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
38%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
209
113,008 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in New Lenox SD 122
- Alex M Martino Jr High SchoolMiddle · 591 students
- Liberty Junior High SchoolMiddle · 573 students
- Spencer CrossingMiddle · 544 students
- Spencer PointeElementary · 437 students
- Nelson Prairie SchoolElementary · 388 students
- Bentley Elementary SchoolMiddle · 380 students
Other schools in New Lenox
- Lincoln Way WestHigh · 2,047 students
- Lincoln-Way Central High SchoolHigh · 1,991 students
- Alex M Martino Jr High SchoolMiddle · 591 students
- Liberty Junior High SchoolMiddle · 573 students
- Spencer CrossingMiddle · 544 students
- Spencer PointeElementary · 437 students
Nearby schools
- Nelson Prairie School0.1 mi · 388
- Lincoln Way West1.7 mi · 2,047
- Spencer Pointe2.1 mi · 437
- Spencer Crossing2.1 mi · 544
- Arnold J Tyler School2.2 mi · 372
- Spencer Trail2.2 mi · 367
Frequently asked questions
About Nelson Ridge SchoolHow large is Nelson Ridge School?
Nelson Ridge School enrolls approximately 432 students in grades 04-06.
What grades does Nelson Ridge School serve?
Nelson Ridge School serves grades 04-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Nelson Ridge School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Nelson Ridge School is approximately 19.6:1 (22 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Nelson Ridge School?
At Nelson Ridge School, the student body is approximately 81% White, 14% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Nelson Ridge School?
Nelson Ridge School is overseen by New Lenox SD 122 in Will County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.