Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools.
9 public K-12 schools in Mount Vernon from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Mount Vernon has more public-school enrollment than 33% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Mount Vernon High School enrolls 37.4% of Mount Vernon's public-school students. That is enough concentration for one institution to pull the citywide enrollment, staffing, and Resource Index averages toward its own profile. The smaller campuses below should therefore be compared directly rather than inferred from the headline mean; their grade configurations and program footprints can be materially different even inside the same district.
A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary
Mount Vernon's list includes 4 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high-school campus, plus 3 combined-grade records. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.
A small portfolio contains radically different campus scales
Mount Vernon lists only 9 schools, yet reported enrollment runs from 56 to 1,233 students, a 22-fold range. In a portfolio this compact, the smallest record may be a specialized or nonstandard setting rather than a miniature version of the largest campus. That distinction affects how ratios and program fields should be read. Compare similarly configured grade levels first; combining the extremes into one city average conceals more than it explains.
City enrollment
Top 67%
School count
Top 46%
Resource Index average
71st percentile
Teacher staffing
85th percentile
Mount Vernon High School accounts for 37.4% of all Mount Vernon public-school enrollment
That dominant concentration means Mount Vernon-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Mount Vernon school enrollment varies 22× across entities
Mount Vernon school enrollment ranges from 56 students (lowest) to 1,233 students (highest), a spread of 1,177 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.
Mount Vernon operates 6 school districts — among the most fragmented governance structures in the country
Each school district has independent budgeting, hiring, and service delivery authority. The fragmentation reflects historical patterns of inter-municipal boundary lines that pre-date modern city growth, students in different parts of the same city can attend different districts with different per-pupil spending, calendars, and graduation requirements. Per-region variation is largest in fragmented systems because each school district sets its own budget, contracts, and priorities without higher-level coordination above the regulatory floor.
Mount Vernon student-teacher ratio is 12.4:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Mount Vernon
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
What do families ask about schools in Mount Vernon?
Which Mount Vernon school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼
J L Buford Intermediate Ed Ctr has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Mount Vernon schools in this federal-data comparison at 54/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
How many schools are in Mount Vernon, IL? ▼
Mount Vernon has 9 public schools with a total enrollment of 3,295 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 12.4:1.
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio,
counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes:
verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.
