Enrollment
146
Middle
DISTRICT 171 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WESTERN CUSD 12·NCES 170138705901
Western Jr High School
300 Chaney St, Kinderhook, IL 62345 · (217) 432-8324 · Pike County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL146 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
11 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.3:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
55%
81 students
DISTRICT 60% · 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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
Western Jr High School→Western High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Western CUSD 12. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
IAR + ISA 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 4-5)English Language Arts
53.9%
IL avg 51.0% . +5.0pp since 2023
Math
28.1%
IL avg 37.9% . +6.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 28 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 7 points.
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
44.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.5%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 39% 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
146
-39 (-21%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
was 17.2:1
% White
95%
was 98%
% Hispanic
2%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Western Jr High School
Western Jr High School is a minimally staffed junior high in Kinderhook, Illinois, overseen by Western CUSD 12. The school works with 146 students in grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 68% smaller than the state mean of about 462.
Western CUSD 12 comprises 3 schools with combined enrollment of 512 students; Western Jr High School is among them.
Demographically, Western Jr High School records that nearly all students (95%) are White. The remainder breaks down as 3% multiracial, 2% Hispanic. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.
Looking at the economic backdrop, Western Jr High School reports 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.8:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.0:1 average. An estimated 55% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Western Jr High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 39.5%, the actual is 44.3%, a residual of +4.8 points.
In the broader community, community-level numbers for Pike County indicate median household earnings sit near $59,777, roughly 19% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Western Jr High School is one of 12 public schools in Pike County (combined enrollment of about 2,394 students).
Nearest neighbor: Western High School, around 5.5 miles off. Within ten miles, there are 4 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Western Jr High School at 4th of 9; the average score across the group is 42.2%.
Western Jr High School operates from a countryside location.
Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 21%: 185 students in 2018 compared to 146 in 2025. Class-load math has narrowed: from 17.2:1 in 2018 to 13.8:1 in 2025.
In the discussion threads here, members of the Western Jr High School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Pike County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
14,469
Census ACS
Median income
$59,777
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
12
2,394 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Western CUSD 12
- Western Barry ElemElementary · 225 students
- Western High SchoolHigh · 141 students
Nearby schools
- Western High School5.5 mi · 141
- Western Barry Elem5.5 mi · 225
- Seymour High School9.6 mi · 216
- Seymour Elementary School9.6 mi · 233
- A. D. STOWELL ELEM.10.8 mi · 221
- EUGENE FIELD ELEM.11.9 mi · 190
Frequently asked questions
About Western Jr High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Western Jr High School?
Western Jr High School enrolls approximately 146 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Western Jr High School serve?
Western Jr High School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Western Jr High School?
Approximately 13.8:1 students per teacher at Western Jr High School.
How diverse is Western Jr High School?
Western Jr High School reports a student body of 95% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Western Jr High School public or private?
Western Jr High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Western CUSD 12.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.