1
What clubs or activities at Shields Middle School are worth joining?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
330
Middle
DISTRICT 383 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIST 299·NCES 170993006207
Shields Middle School
2611 W 48th St, Chicago, IL 60632 · (773) 535-7115 · Cook County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL330 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
10.8:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
319 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 56%
Community
1
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 5 | 78 | 24% |
| Grade 6 | 71 | 22% |
| Grade 7 | 79 | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 101 | 31% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
Student demographics
5%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
38.0%
IL avg 51.0% . +20.1pp since 2023
Math
13.2%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 13 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 20 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 38.0% | 13.2% |
| 2023-24 | 17.9% | 6.7% |
% 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
24.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
15.7%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 16% 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 Shields Middle School
Shields Middle School's state test result (24.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shields Middle School this school | 330 | 96.7% | 24.7% |
| Heritage Middle School Summit | 447 | 98.9% | 33.7% |
| Northwest Middle School Chicago | 532 | 89.8% | 13.9% |
| Gompers Junior High School Joliet | 615 | 99.2% | 24.4% |
| Gary Elementary School Chicago | 711 | 94.5% | 23.9% |
| Hernandez Middle School Chicago | 720 | 94.9% | 23.9% |
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 Shields Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 24.7% | #485 of 578 | #87 of 116 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 13.2% | #557 of 640 ▲ 25 | #124 of 146 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 38.0% | #509 of 640 ▲ 84 | #109 of 146 ▲ 26 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 330 | #425 of 691 | #114 of 148 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.8:1 | #80 of 558 | #32 of 138 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 5.4% | #554 of 560 | #133 of 138 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.7% | #24 of 581 | #13 of 117 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -45.5% | #4 of 440 | #3 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
330
-264 (-44%) vs 2020
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 | 330 | 30.5 | 10.8:1 | 97% (319) |
| 2023-24 | 376 | 33 | 11.4:1 | 95% (359) |
| 2022-23 | 443 | 33 | 13.4:1 | 97% (428) |
| 2020-21 | 594 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 605 | 33.6 | 18.0:1 | 98% (592) |
| 2015-16 | 690 | 38 | 18.2:1 | 98% (676) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Shields Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 45% (605 to 330); teachers down 9% (33.6 to 30.5).
About Shields Middle School
Shields Middle School is a small middle school in Illinois, located in Chicago. Federal data show 330 students enrolled in grades 5 through 8 in 2024-25. Middle schools in Illinois average about 462 students, which makes this school 29% below average.
Shields Middle School is one of the 622 schools that make up Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 (324,396 students in total).
Of every 100 students at Shields Middle School, about 97 are Hispanic. For comparison, the population of Cook County is roughly 27% Hispanic. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 5%.
The school's 30.5 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.8:1. Middle schools in Illinois have an average ratio of 13.0:1. At Shields Middle School, 97% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. On average, public schools in Cook County report 66%.
Shields Middle School's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (24.7%) and its predicted rate (15.7%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Illinois schools.
In Cook County, where the school is located, 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.
Noble St Chtr - Mansueto sits about 0.4 miles from Shields Middle School. Shields Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools with test data average 26.5% proficiency; Shields Middle School posts 24.7%.
Under the NCES locale system, Shields Middle School is City: Large.
The school counted 594 students in 2020-21 and 330 in 2024-25. A shift in the grades offered could account for part of the difference.
The discussion board for Shields Middle School is open to topics like pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. 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 Shields Middle schools
One other US public school is named Shields Middle. Shields Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- SHIELDS MIDDLE SCHOOLRUSKIN, FL · 1,593 students
Nearby schools
- Noble St Chtr - Mansueto0.4 mi · 1,106
- Christopher Elementary School0.4 mi · 315
- Acero Chtr - Officer Marquez Elementary School0.4 mi · 508
- Acero Chtr - Rufino Tamayo Elementary School0.5 mi · 266
- Acero Chtr-Brighton Park Elementary School0.5 mi · 465
- Nightingale Elementary School0.6 mi · 917
Frequently asked questions
About Shields Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Shields Middle School?
Shields Middle School enrolls approximately 330 students in grades 05-08.
Is Shields Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Shields Middle School is a middle school covering grades 05-08.
How many students per teacher at Shields Middle School?
Approximately 10.8:1 students per teacher at Shields Middle School.
How diverse is Shields Middle School?
Shields Middle School reports a student body of 1% White, 97% Hispanic, 2% Black, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Shields Middle School?
Shields Middle School is overseen by Chicago Public Schools Dist 299 in Cook County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.