Enrollment
330
Middle
DISTRICT 344 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ZION ESD 6·NCES 174386004351
Zion Central Middle School
1716 27th St, Zion, IL 60099 · (847) 379-0227 · Lake County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL330 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 6% of Illinois public middle schools
- FTest 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
11.2:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.3:1 · STATE 13.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
282 students
DISTRICT 84% · 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 | 125 | 38% |
| Grade 7 | 112 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 93 | 28% |
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
21.1%
IL avg 51.0% . +0.8pp since 2023
Math
6.6%
IL avg 37.9% . +3.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the IAR + ISA, Illinois's statewide test, about 21 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 7 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Illinois schools, those numbers are about 51 and 38. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
IAR + ISA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 21.1% | 6.6% |
| 2023-24 | 20.3% | 3.4% |
% 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
13.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.2%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 14% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 22% 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 Zion Central Middle School
Zion Central Middle School's state test result (13.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zion Central Middle School this school | 330 | 85.5% | 13.6% |
| Shiloh Park Middle School Zion | 358 | 85.8% | 12.2% |
| Veterans Memorial Middle School Blue Island | 361 | 78.1% | 22.8% |
| Everett F Kerr Middle School Blue Island | 304 | 81.9% | 32.2% |
| Kellar School Robbins | 431 | 75.4% | 34.7% |
| MacArthur Middle School Berkeley | 357 | 75.9% | 24.3% |
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 Zion Central Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois | In Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.6% | #561 of 578 | #28 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 6.6% | #621 of 640 ▼ 5 | #44 of 44 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 21.1% | #616 of 640 ▼ 45 | #39 of 44 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 330 | #427 of 691 | #38 of 44 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.2:1 | #104 of 558 | #17 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 53.0% | #232 of 560 | #22 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 85.5% | #52 of 581 | #5 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -39.9% | #9 of 440 | #1 of 34 |
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
-128 (-28%) vs 2020
-45% since 1990-91, when it was 604
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 | 29.5 | 11.2:1 | 85% (282) |
| 2023-24 | 342 | 29 | 11.8:1 | 74% (254) |
| 2022-23 | 323 | 30 | 10.8:1 | 83% (268) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 549 | 45.1 | 12.2:1 | 78% (429) |
| 2015-16 | 527 | 41 | 12.8:1 | 84% (442) |
| 2010-11 | 543 | 38 | 14.3:1 | 80% (433) |
| 2000-01 | 592 | 34 | 17.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 604 | 31 | 19.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Zion Central Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 40% (549 to 330); teachers down 35% (45.1 to 29.5).
About Zion Central Middle School
Zion Central Middle School is one of the public schools in Zion, Illinois. It is a small middle school. The school enrolls 330 students, from grades 6 through 8. Average enrollment for middle schools in Illinois is about 462, so this school runs 29% smaller than that.
Besides Zion Central Middle School, Zion ESD 6 runs 6 other schools. The district enrolls 2,176 students.
Hispanic students make up a majority at Zion Central Middle School, at 63%. The next largest groups are 26% Black, 7% White, and 4% multiracial. In Lake County overall, about 25% of residents are Hispanic. The school's diversity index is 53%, meaning two students picked at random have a 53% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The ratio of students to teachers is 11.2:1, with 29.5 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 Zion Central Middle School is 85%. The average for public schools in Lake County is 54%.
Measured against Illinois public middle schools, Zion Central Middle School receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Zion Central Middle School, the prediction is 22.2% and the result is 13.6%.
Census Bureau estimates for Lake County show that the median household income is $110,416, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 48% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. There are 214 public schools in Lake County, enrolling about 118,032 students in all.
Nearby, Shiloh Park Middle School is about 0.2 miles away. Within five miles of Zion Central Middle School, there are at least 8 other public schools. Zion Central Middle School is 3rd of 6 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Zion Central Middle School is coded as Suburb: Large in federal locale data.
Enrollment declined 28% from its 2020-21 level of 458.
Questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Lake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
714,223
Census ACS
Median income
$110,416
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
48%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
214
118,032 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Zion ESD 6
- Shiloh Park Middle SchoolMiddle · 358 students
- West Elementary SchoolElementary · 339 students
- Elmwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 336 students
- Beulah Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 289 students
- East Elementary SchoolElementary · 275 students
- Lakeview SchoolElementary · 249 students
Other schools in Zion
- Zion-Benton Twnshp Hi SchoolHigh · 2,114 students
- Zion-Benton East High SchoolHigh · 419 students
- Shiloh Park Middle SchoolMiddle · 358 students
- West Elementary SchoolElementary · 339 students
- Elmwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 336 students
- Beulah Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 289 students
Nearby schools
- Shiloh Park Middle School0.2 mi · 358
- Elmwood Elementary School0.5 mi · 336
- Zion-Benton East High School0.6 mi · 419
- Lakeview School0.6 mi · 249
- East Elementary School0.7 mi · 275
- West Elementary School0.9 mi · 339
Frequently asked questions
About Zion Central Middle SchoolHow large is Zion Central Middle School?
Zion Central Middle School enrolls approximately 330 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Zion Central Middle School serve?
Zion Central Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Zion Central Middle School?
Approximately 11.2:1 students per teacher at Zion Central Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Zion Central Middle School?
Student demographics at Zion Central Middle School are roughly 7% White, 63% Hispanic, 26% Black, 4% Two or more.
What district is Zion Central Middle School in?
Zion Central Middle School is part of Zion ESD 6.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.