Enrollment
250
Illinois · 2024-25 NCES data
Middle school (grades 6-8) · Forrest, IL
Prairie Central Jr High School
Federal NCES profile for Prairie Central Jr High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 30/100.
2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 170000505127
👥 S:T ratio 50
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 9
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Prairie Central Jr High School earns 30/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Illinois median.
- 30
- Resource Index · Lower
- 12.5:1
- students per teacher
- 250
- students enrolled
Prairie Central Jr High School has class sizes near the Illinois median. Computed live against every Illinois school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Prairie Central Cusd 8 · Illinois
NCES ID 170000505127 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
20.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.5:1
vs 14:1 Illinois avg
-11% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Prairie Central Jr High School compares with Illinois and U.S. medians
What stands out at Prairie Central Jr High School
Prairie Central Jr High School is a mid-sized middle school in Forrest, Illinois, enrolling 250 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.5:1 puts it in the smaller third of Illinois schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 250 puts it in the smaller third of Illinois schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 3,845 scored Illinois schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (83% of enrollment) (diversity index 29/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 36.4% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The federal civil-rights collection also records 2 expulsions at this campus for 2021-22.
Prairie Central Cusd 8 also operates Prairie Central High School (487 students) and Prairie Central Elem School (367 students) alongside Prairie Central Jr High 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 Prairie Central Jr High School compares
Prairie Central Jr High 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 | 12.5:1 | ▼ 11% | 14:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 250 | top 73% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.5:1
Leaner classes than 71% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
250
Bigger than 25% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
12.5:1
students per teacher
- 11% below state mean
Top 35% in Illinois - lower ratio than 65% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
36.4%
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
$15,141
per pupil, district-wide
- below Illinois avg of $17,042
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
33
in-school suspensions + 16 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 13.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 19.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 2 expulsions.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 83.2%
Hispanic or Latino 10.4%
Two or More 4.8%
Asian 1.2%
African American 0.4%
Largest group: White at 83.2% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 29.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 29.4, Prairie Central Jr High School is less mixed than the Illinois school average of 38.9.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Prairie Central Cusd 8, which includes Prairie Central Jr High School.
$15,141
Per student
-11%
vs Illinois
Avg $17,042
-9%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 55.1%
State 37.6%
Federal 7.3%
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 Prairie Central Jr High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Central High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Elem School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Primary West | Similar size | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Upper Elementary | Similar size | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Primary East | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Prairie Central Jr High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 487
- Students per teacher
- 11.6:1
- Resource Index
- 34/100
- Enrollment
- 367
- Students per teacher
- 12.7:1
- Resource Index
- 38/100
- Enrollment
- 244
- Students per teacher
- 15.3:1
- Resource Index
- 39/100
- Enrollment
- 216
- Students per teacher
- 10.3:1
- Resource Index
- 37/100
- Enrollment
- 148
- Students per teacher
- 12.3:1
- Resource Index
- 41/100
Similar middle 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 (~250 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~12.5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Prairie Central Jr High School's federal record.
- Compare Prairie Central Jr High School against another school. Compare schools
- Prairie Central Cusd 8'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 Prairie Central Jr High School
How many students attend Prairie Central Jr High School?
Prairie Central Jr High School has 250 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Forrest, IL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie Central Jr High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Prairie Central Jr High School is 12.5:1, which is 11% lower than the Illinois average of 14:1 and 20% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Prairie Central Jr High School?
The largest demographic group at Prairie Central Jr High School is White at 83.2% of enrollment, in Forrest, IL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Prairie Central Jr High School?
Prairie Central Jr High School has a Resource Investment Index of 30/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Prairie Central Jr High School a good school?
Prairie Central Jr High School earns 30/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Illinois median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Prairie Central Cusd 8?
Besides Prairie Central Jr High School, Prairie Central Cusd 8 also operates Prairie Central High School (487 students), Prairie Central Elem School (367 students), and Prairie Central Primary West (244 students). See the Prairie Central Cusd 8 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, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.