Enrollment
288
Middle
DISTRICT 410 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA CUD 10·NCES 170765005479
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School
700 Panther Way, Paxton, IL 60957 · (217) 379-9202 · Ford County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL288 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 61% of Illinois public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+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
11.5:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.8:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
139 students
DISTRICT 44% · STATE 56%
Community
0
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 | 99 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 100 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 89 | 31% |
Student demographics
35%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School→Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Paxton-Buckley-Loda CUD 10. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
59.7%
IL avg 51.0% . +9.3pp since 2023
Math
39.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +7.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 60 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 39 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 7 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 59.7% | 39.2% |
| 2023-24 | 50.4% | 32.1% |
% 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
48.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.6%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School's state test result (48.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School this school | 288 | 48.3% | 48.6% |
| Wilmington Middle School Wilmington | 254 | 46.9% | 54.8% |
| Pontiac Jr High School Pontiac | 326 | 50.0% | 26.0% |
| Edison Junior High School Pekin | 271 | 51.3% | 37.2% |
| Anna Junior High School Anna | 236 | 49.2% | 44.7% |
| Prairie Central Jr High School Forrest | 250 | 52.4% | 44.3% |
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 Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.6% | #218 of 578 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 39.2% | #244 of 640 ▼ 26 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 59.7% | #297 of 640 ▼ 16 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 288 | #462 of 691 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.5:1 | #134 of 558 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 35.3% | #367 of 560 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 48.3% | #309 of 581 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.8% | #312 of 440 |
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
288
+10 (+4%) vs 2020
-4% since 1990-91, when it was 299
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 | 288 | 25 | 11.5:1 | 48% (139) |
| 2023-24 | 279 | 22 | 12.7:1 | 52% (145) |
| 2022-23 | 269 | 25.3 | 10.7:1 | 48% (130) |
| 2020-21 | 278 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 309 | 24.5 | 12.6:1 | 51% (158) |
| 2015-16 | 343 | 24 | 14.3:1 | 41% (139) |
| 2010-11 | 354 | 26 | 13.6:1 | 29% (103) |
| 2000-01 | 333 | 17 | 19.6:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 299 | 17 | 17.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (309 to 288); teachers up 2% (24.5 to 25).
About Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School is a small middle school. Its address is in Paxton, Illinois. Students in grades 6 through 8 attend the school, which enrolls 288 students. The average among middle schools in Illinois is roughly 462 students; this school is 38% smaller than that.
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School is a school in Paxton-Buckley-Loda CUD 10. The district has 3 schools and 1,230 students.
At Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School, White students make up 79% of the student body. Next come 13% Hispanic and 7% multiracial. The county population is about 90% White. The school's diversity index is 35%, meaning two students picked at random have a 35% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The ratio of students to teachers is 11.5:1, with 25 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 13.0:1 average for middle schools in Illinois. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School is 48%. For comparison, public schools in Ford County average 48%.
Measured against Illinois public middle schools, Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School receives a B. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
In Illinois, Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 48.6% actual against a predicted 43.6%.
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School is located in Ford County, where the median household income is $62,439, about 19% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Besides Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School, Ford County has 8 other public schools.
The closest other public school is Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School, less than a tenth of a mile away. Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School has 2 other public schools within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School at 1st of 8.
By NCES locale, the school is Town: Distant, or in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment has grown by 10 students since 2020-21, to 288.
Discussions about Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School may include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Ford County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
13,406
Census ACS
Median income
$62,439
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
9
2,450 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Paxton-Buckley-Loda CUD 10
- Clara Peterson Elementary SchoolElementary · 564 students
- Paxton-Buckley-Loda High SchoolHigh · 378 students
- Panther AcademyHigh
Other schools in Paxton
- Clara Peterson Elementary SchoolElementary · 564 students
- Paxton-Buckley-Loda High SchoolHigh · 378 students
- Panther AcademyHigh
Nearby schools
- Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School0.1 mi · 378
- Clara Peterson Elementary School1.1 mi · 564
- Ludlow Elementary School5.4 mi · 52
- Eastlawn Elementary School10.1 mi · 276
- Northview Elementary School10.5 mi · 218
- Pleasant Acres Elementary School10.7 mi · 293
Frequently asked questions
About Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School?
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School enrolls approximately 288 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School serve?
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School?
Approximately 11.5:1 students per teacher at Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School.
How diverse is Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School?
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School reports a student body of 79% White, 13% Hispanic, 2% Black, 7% Two or more.
Is Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School public or private?
Paxton-Buckley-Loda Jr High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Paxton-Buckley-Loda CUD 10.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.