Pana Jr High School

Pana Jr High School is one of the close-knit middle schools in Pana, Illinois, overseen by Pana CUSD 8, with 248 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8. That puts it 46% smaller than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 462 students.

Pana CUSD 8 comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 1,454 students; Pana Jr High School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Pana Jr High School lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (93%). Beyond that, the school reports 4% multiracial, 2% Hispanic. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Pana Jr High School has 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.2:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.0:1, putting Pana Jr High School tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 53% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Pana Jr High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 40.8%, the actual is 51.4%, a residual of +10.7 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Christian County put median household income runs about $62,611, 17% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, Christian County runs 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,740 students), of which Pana Jr High School is one.

The closest other public school is Pana Elem School, roughly 0.1 miles away. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Pana Jr High School ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 45.6%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Pana Jr High School has edged down 13%, going from 286 students in 2018 to 248 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 12.8:1 in 2018 to 11.2:1 today.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.