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What tradition at Oliver W Holmes Middle School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
615
Middle
DISTRICT 658 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WHEELING CCSD 21·NCES 174221004240
Oliver W Holmes Middle School
221 S Wolf Rd, Wheeling, IL 60090 · (847) 520-2790 · Cook County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL615 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.2:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
438 students
DISTRICT 59% · 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 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 6 | 206 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 196 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 212 | 34% |
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · 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
26.8%
IL avg 51.0% . +4.9pp since 2023
Math
14.0%
IL avg 37.9% . +2.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 27 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 14 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 26.8% | 14.0% |
| 2023-24 | 21.9% | 11.4% |
% 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
22.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.4%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% 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 Oliver W Holmes Middle School
Oliver W Holmes Middle School's state test result (22.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oliver W Holmes Middle School this school | 615 | 71.2% | 22.3% |
| Abbott Middle School Elgin | 551 | 69.3% | 19.4% |
| Tefft Middle School Streamwood | 606 | 64.2% | 30.1% |
| Larsen Middle School Elgin | 570 | 62.8% | 23.4% |
| Jefferson Middle School Aurora | 577 | 62.2% | 34.1% |
| Heritage Middle School Berwyn | 447 | 73.6% | 47.6% |
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 Oliver W Holmes Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.3% | #507 of 578 | #97 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 14.0% | #546 of 640 ▼ 29 | #122 of 146 ▼ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 26.8% | #591 of 640 ▼ 31 | #136 of 146 ▼ 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 615 | #202 of 691 | #61 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.9:1 | #86 of 558 | #34 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.7% | #297 of 560 | #82 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 71.2% | #99 of 581 | #42 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.4% | #116 of 440 | #28 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
615
-98 (-14%) vs 2020
-18% since 1990-91, when it was 749
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 | 615 | 56.3 | 10.9:1 | 71% (438) |
| 2023-24 | 609 | 54 | 11.3:1 | 71% (431) |
| 2022-23 | 613 | 49 | 12.5:1 | 69% (420) |
| 2020-21 | 713 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 754 | 59.9 | 12.6:1 | 63% (475) |
| 2015-16 | 763 | 64 | 11.9:1 | 72% (551) |
| 2010-11 | 718 | 68 | 10.6:1 | 74% (531) |
| 2000-01 | 860 | 68 | 12.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 749 | 44 | 17.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Oliver W Holmes Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (754 to 615); teachers down 6% (59.9 to 56.3).
About Oliver W Holmes Middle School
Oliver W Holmes Middle School is a mid-sized middle school in Wheeling, Illinois. Total enrollment is 615 students, and the grades served are 6 through 8. By comparison, middle schools in Illinois enroll about 462 students on average.
Wheeling CCSD 21 operates 12 schools. Combined enrollment is 6,298 students.
More than half of enrollment at Oliver W Holmes Middle School is Hispanic: 73%. Other groups make up 14% White, 6% Asian, 5% Black, and 2% multiracial. 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 45%.
Oliver W Holmes Middle School has 56.3 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.9:1. Across middle schools in Illinois, the average ratio is 13.0:1. The school has 71% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
In Illinois, Oliver W Holmes Middle School is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 22.3% actual against a predicted 30.4%.
For Cook County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $83,498 a year, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. Public schools in Cook County number 1,406, with about 697,934 students.
About 0.3 miles separate Oliver W Holmes Middle School from the closest public school, Walt Whitman Elementary School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 30.2%; Oliver W Holmes Middle School's is 22.3%, ranking 5th of 6.
By NCES locale, the school is Suburb: Large, or in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 615 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 713.
The allk12 page for Oliver W Holmes Middle School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 Wheeling CCSD 21
- Cooper Middle SchoolMiddle · 732 students
- Jack London Middle SchoolMiddle · 628 students
- Eugene Field Elementary SchoolElementary · 613 students
- Joyce Kilmer Elementary SchoolElementary · 590 students
- Booth Tarkington Elementary SchoolElementary · 540 students
- Robert Frost Elementary SchoolElementary · 532 students
Other schools in Wheeling
- Wheeling High SchoolHigh · 1,743 students
- Jack London Middle SchoolMiddle · 628 students
- Eugene Field Elementary SchoolElementary · 613 students
- Booth Tarkington Elementary SchoolElementary · 540 students
- Mark Twain Elementary SchoolElementary · 524 students
- Walt Whitman Elementary SchoolElementary · 378 students
Nearby schools
- Walt Whitman Elementary School0.3 mi · 378
- Mark Twain Elementary School1.0 mi · 524
- Wheeling High School1.4 mi · 1,743
- Jack London Middle School1.5 mi · 628
- Eugene Field Elementary School1.5 mi · 613
- Wood Oaks Jr High School1.8 mi · 455
Frequently asked questions
About Oliver W Holmes Middle SchoolHow large is Oliver W Holmes Middle School?
Oliver W Holmes Middle School enrolls approximately 615 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Oliver W Holmes Middle School serve?
Oliver W Holmes Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Oliver W Holmes Middle School?
Approximately 10.9:1 students per teacher at Oliver W Holmes Middle School.
How diverse is Oliver W Holmes Middle School?
Oliver W Holmes Middle School reports a student body of 14% White, 73% Hispanic, 5% Black, 6% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Oliver W Holmes Middle School?
Oliver W Holmes Middle School is overseen by Wheeling CCSD 21 in Cook County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.