Vandalia Community High School

Vandalia · IL · Vandalia CUSD 203 · Public


📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 3 AP courses offered — Strong
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 56th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 75th percentile by test-taker volume

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Vandalia Community High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 56th percentile nationally with 3 AP courses.
  • LocallyIL sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Okaw Area Vocational Center, Bond Cty Comm Unit 2 High School, Hillsboro High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses

56th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
3
Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
23
≈6 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
5
0 calculus · 5 advanced
Lab science classes
5
1 physics · 4 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

75th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
191
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
46.5
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
17.8%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
24.4%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

49.1%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

44%
admit rate
$16,004
in-state tuition/yr · $35,124 out-of-state
1270–1510
SAT 25–75 · ACT 29–34

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $14,355/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
11.4%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
47
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
274:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
1.5
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
44
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 85 in 2021 to 90 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+5.9%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +1.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 411 students:

2025
416
2027
426
2029
436

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $19,142 per student in district revenue, the 25 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $478,550/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Okaw Area Vocational Center
Vandalia
Public 0.0
Bond Cty Comm Unit 2 High School
Greenville
Public 16.8 484 -12.6%
Hillsboro High School
Hillsboro
Public 24.1 419 -13.3%
Pana Sr High School
Pana
Public 28.3 404 +2.0%
Altamont High School
Altamont
Public 20.2 222 -10.5%
Litchfield Senior High School
Litchfield
Public 33.3 382 -0.3%
Salem Community High School
Salem
Public 24.7 706 +0.7%
Carlyle High School
Carlyle
Public 28.5 281 -7.0%

For Parents

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