Southwestern Middle School

Southwestern Middle School is a very small middle-grades school in Piasa, Illinois, one of the schools within Southwestern CUSD 9. The school hosts 171 students in grades 7 through 8. That puts it 63% below the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 462 students.

Southwestern CUSD 9 runs 5 schools in total, collectively educating 1,149 students. Southwestern Middle School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Southwestern Middle School records that nearly all students (94%) are White. Other groups include 2% Hispanic, 2% multiracial. Compared to Macoupin County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at school resources, Southwestern Middle School shows 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.0:1, putting Southwestern Middle School tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 42% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Southwestern Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 47.2%, the actual is 39.7%, a residual of -7.5 points.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Macoupin County indicate median household earnings sit near $70,805, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Southwestern Middle School is one of 28 public schools in Macoupin County (combined enrollment of about 7,221 students).

Southwestern High School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 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), Southwestern Middle School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 48.2%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 25%: 229 students in 2018 compared to 171 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 14.8:1 in 2018 to 12.1:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.