Enrollment
353
Middle
DISTRICT 346 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·OTTAWA ESD 141·NCES 173030003140
Shepherd Middle School
701 E McKinley Rd, Ottawa, IL 61350 · (815) 433-1133 · LaSalle County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL353 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 29% of Illinois public middle schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+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
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.9:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
55%
193 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 7 | 174 | 49% |
| Grade 8 | 178 | 50% |
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 46% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Ottawa ESD 141. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
46.2%
IL avg 51.0% . +7.5pp since 2023
Math
19.7%
IL avg 37.9% . +5.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 46 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 46.2% | 19.7% |
| 2023-24 | 38.7% | 14.1% |
% 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
35.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.9%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Shepherd Middle School
Shepherd Middle School's state test result (35.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shepherd Middle School this school | 353 | 54.7% | 35.6% |
| Parkside Middle School Peru | 372 | 54.6% | 45.4% |
| Central Intermediate School Ottawa | 339 | 56.3% | 38.8% |
| Sandwich Middle School Sandwich | 420 | 51.2% | 44.4% |
| Hoopeston Area Middle School Hoopeston | 248 | 55.2% | 23.2% |
| Pontiac Jr High School Pontiac | 326 | 50.0% | 26.0% |
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 Shepherd Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In LaSalle County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.6% | #381 of 578 | #7 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.7% | #483 of 640 ▼ 8 | #7 of 9 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 46.2% | #447 of 640 ▼ 35 | #7 of 9 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 353 | #408 of 691 | #4 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.5:1 | #135 of 558 | #2 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.8% | #287 of 560 | #5 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 54.7% | #245 of 581 | #5 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.5% | #176 of 440 | #2 of 7 |
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
353
-41 (-10%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 463
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 | 353 | 30.6 | 11.5:1 | 55% (193) |
| 2023-24 | 381 | 33.6 | 11.3:1 | 54% (205) |
| 2022-23 | 389 | 31.5 | 12.3:1 | 53% (205) |
| 2020-21 | 394 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 413 | 31.1 | 13.3:1 | 50% (207) |
| 2015-16 | 416 | 32 | 13.0:1 | 52% (215) |
| 2010-11 | 415 | 32 | 13.0:1 | 43% (179) |
| 2000-01 | 488 | 35 | 13.9:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 463 | 28 | 16.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Shepherd Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (413 to 353); teachers down 2% (31.1 to 30.6).
About Shepherd Middle School
Shepherd Middle School is a small middle-grades school found in Ottawa, Illinois. The school teaches grades 7 through 8 and enrolls 353 students. It has 24% fewer students than the average for middle schools in Illinois (about 462).
Across its 5 schools, Ottawa ESD 141 enrolls 1,747 students. Shepherd Middle School is one of those schools.
At Shepherd Middle School, 70% of students are White. The school is also 20% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 4% Black. That is lower than the 86% White share among all LaSalle County residents. The diversity index for Shepherd Middle School is 47%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school's 30.6 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.5:1. Middle schools in Illinois have an average ratio of 13.0:1. At Shepherd Middle School, 55% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. Public schools in LaSalle County average a similar 53%.
On the allk12 Grade, Shepherd Middle School lands at C, ahead of 29% of Illinois public middle schools.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 39.9% at Shepherd Middle School; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 35.6%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for LaSalle County show that the median household earns about $73,045 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 21%, and about 11% of people live in poverty. LaSalle County has 54 public schools with about 14,523 students, including Shepherd Middle School.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Central Intermediate School, is about 0.1 miles. Within five miles are 5 other public schools. Shepherd Middle School is 6th of 8 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
NCES lists the school's locale as Town: Distant. That means it sits in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
From 394 students in 2020-21, enrollment fell to 353 by 2024-25.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Shepherd Middle School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
LaSalle County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
108,714
Census ACS
Median income
$73,045
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
54
14,523 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ottawa ESD 141
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolElementary · 387 students
- McKinley Elementary SchoolElementary · 364 students
- Central Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 339 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolElementary · 304 students
Other schools in Ottawa
- Ottawa Township High SchoolHigh · 1,223 students
- Wallace Elementary SchoolElementary · 420 students
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolElementary · 387 students
- McKinley Elementary SchoolElementary · 364 students
- Central Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 339 students
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolElementary · 304 students
Other Shepherd Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Shepherd Middle. Shepherd Middle School is the 3rd largest of the 4.
- Shepherd Middle SchoolSHEPHERD, TX · 448 students
- Shepherd Middle SchoolSHEPHERD, MI · 390 students
- Shepherd Middle SchoolShepherd, MT · 180 students
Nearby schools
- Central Intermediate School0.1 mi · 339
- McKinley Elementary School0.6 mi · 364
- Ottawa Township High School1.5 mi · 1,223
- Lincoln Elementary School2.1 mi · 387
- Jefferson Elementary School2.4 mi · 304
- Grand Ridge School5.9 mi · 212
Frequently asked questions
About Shepherd Middle SchoolHow large is Shepherd Middle School?
Shepherd Middle School enrolls approximately 353 students in grades 07-08.
Is Shepherd Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Shepherd Middle School is a middle school covering grades 07-08.
How many students per teacher at Shepherd Middle School?
Approximately 11.5:1 students per teacher at Shepherd Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Shepherd Middle School?
Student demographics at Shepherd Middle School are roughly 70% White, 20% Hispanic, 4% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Shepherd Middle School?
Shepherd Middle School is overseen by Ottawa ESD 141 in LaSalle County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.