Enrollment
331
Illinois · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · West Peoria, IL
Harold B Dawson Middle School
Federal NCES profile for Harold B Dawson Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 23/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 173123005329
👥 S:T ratio 26
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 34
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Harold B Dawson Middle School earns 23/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 92% of Illinois schools.
- 23
- Resource Index · Lower
- 18.4:1
- large classes for Illinois
- 331
- students enrolled
Harold B Dawson Middle School has class sizes larger than 92% of Illinois schools. Computed live against every Illinois school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Peoria Sd 150 · Illinois
NCES ID 173123005329 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
18.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18.4:1
vs 14:1 Illinois avg
+31% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Harold B Dawson Middle School compares with Illinois and U.S. medians
What stands out at Harold B Dawson Middle School
Teacher staffing is the clearest operational constraint
Harold B Dawson Middle School's enrollment sits away from the most extreme size bands, but its reported student-teacher ratio is heavier than most Illinois schools. That isolates staffing load as a more useful concern than raw campus size. A high ratio does not establish weak teaching or outcomes, yet it can indicate less adult capacity per enrolled student. The remaining federal indicators show whether support staffing and program access offset that pressure.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Harold B Dawson Middle School's 42.3% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Harold B Dawson Middle School is a mid-sized elementary school in West Peoria, Illinois, enrolling 331 students.
Class loads run heavy: 18.4:1 is larger than about 92% of Illinois schools and 31% above the 14:1 state mean, so each teacher carries more students than is typical.
With 331 students, its enrollment sits close to the Illinois median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index trails 92% of the 3,845 Illinois schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.
Its student body is led by African American (67%) and Two or More (13%) (diversity index 52/100).
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 331 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 42.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 17.7% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Discipline events run high: 153 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 331 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
Peoria Sd 150 also operates Richwoods High School (1,685 students) and Peoria High School (1,541 students) alongside Harold B Dawson Middle School.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Harold B Dawson Middle School compares
Harold B Dawson Middle School on the metrics families compare, against Illinois and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Illinois | Illinois avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 18.4:1 | ▲ 31% | 14:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 331 | top 57% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
18.4:1
Leaner classes than 22% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
331
Bigger than 37% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
18.4:1
students per teacher
- 31% above state mean
Top 92% in Illinois - lower ratio than 8% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
42.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$16,851
per pupil, district-wide
- below Illinois avg of $17,042
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 331 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
56
in-school suspensions + 97 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 16.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 46.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
African American 66.8%
Two or More 13.3%
White 11.2%
Hispanic or Latino 7.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian 0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%
Largest group: African American at 66.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 51.8/100
Simpson diversity index - at 51.8, Harold B Dawson Middle School is more mixed than the Illinois school average of 38.9.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Peoria Sd 150, which includes Harold B Dawson Middle School.
$16,851
Per student
-1%
vs Illinois
Avg $17,042
+2%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 41.8%
State 40.4%
Federal 17.7%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Harold B Dawson Middle School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richwoods High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Peoria High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Lincoln School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
| Glen Oak Comm Learning Cntr | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Manual High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Harold B Dawson Middle School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,685
- Students per teacher
- 21.9:1
- Resource Index
- 31/100
- Enrollment
- 1,541
- Students per teacher
- 20.8:1
- Resource Index
- 27/100
- Enrollment
- 823
- Students per teacher
- 16.8:1
- Resource Index
- 20/100
- Enrollment
- 794
- Students per teacher
- 22.7:1
- Resource Index
- 15/100
- Enrollment
- 731
- Students per teacher
- 18.7:1
- Resource Index
- 37/100
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Illinois, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~331 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~18.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Harold B Dawson Middle School's federal record.
- Compare Harold B Dawson Middle School against another school. Compare schools
- Peoria Sd 150's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Harold B Dawson Middle School
How many students attend Harold B Dawson Middle School?
Harold B Dawson Middle School has 331 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in West Peoria, IL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Harold B Dawson Middle School?
The student-teacher ratio at Harold B Dawson Middle School is 18.4:1, which is 31% higher than the Illinois average of 14:1 and 17% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Harold B Dawson Middle School?
The largest demographic group at Harold B Dawson Middle School is African American at 66.8% of enrollment, in West Peoria, IL. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 51.8/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Harold B Dawson Middle School?
Harold B Dawson Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 23/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Peoria Sd 150?
Besides Harold B Dawson Middle School, Peoria Sd 150 also operates Richwoods High School (1,685 students), Peoria High School (1,541 students), and Lincoln School (823 students). See the Peoria Sd 150 district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.