1
What's the one class at Northwest Middle School every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
532
Middle
DISTRICT 383 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993003567
Northwest Middle School
5252 W Palmer St, Chicago, IL 60639 · (773) 534-3250 · Cook County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL532 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
90%
478 students
DISTRICT 78% · 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 | 174 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 175 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 180 | 34% |
| Grade 9 | 3 | 1% |
Student demographics
10%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
22.6%
IL avg 51.0% . +11.4pp since 2023
Math
7.6%
IL avg 37.9% . -0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 23 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 8 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 22.6% | 7.6% |
| 2023-24 | 11.2% | 8.2% |
% 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
13.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
19.6%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 14% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 20% 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 Northwest Middle School
Northwest Middle School's state test result (13.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Middle School this school | 532 | 89.8% | 13.9% |
| Gary Elementary School Chicago | 711 | 94.5% | 23.9% |
| Hernandez Middle School Chicago | 720 | 94.9% | 23.9% |
| Richardson Middle School Chicago | 844 | 87.8% | 26.1% |
| Northlake Middle School Northlake | 378 | 84.4% | 26.4% |
| Magee Middle School Round Lake | 642 | 89.3% | 17.5% |
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 Northwest Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.9% | #558 of 578 | #111 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.6% | #614 of 640 ▼ 50 | #137 of 146 ▼ 14 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 22.6% | #607 of 640 ▲ 24 | #144 of 146 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 532 | #260 of 691 | #71 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #368 of 558 | #102 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 10.2% | #542 of 560 | #129 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 89.8% | #39 of 581 | #22 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +9.0% | #56 of 127 | #20 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. 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
532
-43 (-7%) vs 2020
-42% since 2000-01, when it was 924
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 | 532 | 38.5 | 13.8:1 | 90% (478) |
| 2023-24 | 518 | 40 | 12.9:1 | 78% (402) |
| 2022-23 | 486 | 34.5 | 14.1:1 | 86% (419) |
| 2020-21 | 575 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 488 | 23.6 | 20.7:1 | 94% (461) |
| 2015-16 | 567 | 29 | 19.6:1 | 96% (544) |
| 2010-11 | 812 | 45 | 18.0:1 | 99% (800) |
| 2000-01 | 924 | 42 | 22.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwest Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (488 to 532); teachers up 63% (23.6 to 38.5).
About Northwest Middle School
Northwest Middle School is a mid-sized middle school found in Chicago, Illinois. Federal data show 532 students enrolled in grades 6 through 8 in 2024-25.
District-wide, Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 has 622 schools and 324,396 students.
The share of Hispanic students at Northwest Middle School is 95%. Other groups make up 2% White and 2% Black. Cook County as a whole is about 27% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 10%.
Teacher count: 38.5 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 13.8:1. The gap from the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois is 0.8 students per teacher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 90%. Among public schools in Cook County, the average eligibility rate is 66%.
A school with Northwest Middle School's lunch-eligibility share in Illinois is predicted to score 19.6%. Northwest Middle School scores 13.9%, 5.7 points below that line.
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 people live in poverty. Cook County's 1,406 public schools enroll about 697,934 students and include Northwest Middle School.
A public school less than a tenth of a mile away, Christopher House Chrt Elementary School, is the closest to Northwest Middle School. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Its average proficiency rate of 13.9% is below the 25.8% average for nearby schools.
Locale: City: Large. In NCES terms, the school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 7% decrease, from 575 to 532.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. 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 Chicago Public Schools Dist 299
- Lane Technical High SchoolHigh · 4,604 students
- Taft High SchoolHigh · 4,487 students
- Curie Metropolitan High SchoolHigh · 3,099 students
- Kenwood Academy High SchoolHigh · 2,268 students
- Young Magnet High SchoolHigh · 2,223 students
- Lincoln Park High SchoolHigh · 2,214 students
Other schools in Chicago
- Lane Technical High SchoolHigh · 4,604 students
- Taft High SchoolHigh · 4,487 students
- Curie Metropolitan High SchoolHigh · 3,099 students
- Kenwood Academy High SchoolHigh · 2,268 students
- Young Magnet High SchoolHigh · 2,223 students
- Lincoln Park High SchoolHigh · 2,214 students
Other Northwest Middle schools
13 other US public schools in 11 states are named Northwest Middle. Northwest Middle School is the 10th largest of the 14.
- Northwest Middle SchoolFlowood, MS · 1,352 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolCoralville, IA · 1,113 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolReading, PA · 821 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolKnoxville, TN · 798 students
- Northwest MiddleTravelers Rest, SC · 783 students
Nearby schools
- Christopher House Chrt Elementary School0.1 mi · 502
- Prosser Career Academy High School0.2 mi · 1,185
- Hanson Park Elementary School0.3 mi · 1,125
- Prieto Math-Science Elementary School0.3 mi · 733
- Noble St Chtr-ITW Speer Academy0.3 mi · 1,135
- Lloyd Elementary School0.6 mi · 844
Frequently asked questions
About Northwest Middle SchoolHow many students attend Northwest Middle School?
Northwest Middle School enrolls approximately 532 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Northwest Middle School serve?
Northwest Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Northwest Middle School?
Approximately 13.8:1 students per teacher at Northwest Middle School.
How diverse is Northwest Middle School?
Northwest Middle School reports a student body of 2% White, 95% Hispanic, 2% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Northwest Middle School in?
Northwest Middle School is part of Chicago Public Schools Dist 299.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.