Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Sparta High School → Trico Senior High School → Red Bud High School → Steeleville High School → Pinckneyville Comm High School → Du Quoin High School → Johnston City High School → Wesclin Sr High School →At a glance
- 2 AP courses offered — Strong
- 2 calculus classes · 6 chemistry
- AP rigor: 52nd percentile nationally
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Chester High School compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 52nd percentile nationally with 2 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: Sparta High School, Trico Senior High School, Red Bud High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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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
52nd percentile nationally
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 · 2020-21Source: 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
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 Targeted Assistance eligible
35-39% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Targeted Assistance
35-39% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The school can receive Title I funds targeted to identified students (not schoolwide).
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
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.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
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 ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +0.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 335 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $15,457 per student in district revenue, the 3 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $46,371/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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparta High School Sparta |
Public | 15.8 | 309 | -3.7% |
| Trico Senior High School Campbell Hill |
Public | 13.6 | 220 | -4.3% |
| Red Bud High School Red Bud |
Public | 22.0 | 388 | -1.3% |
| Steeleville High School Steeleville |
Public | 10.0 | 148 | +8.0% |
| Pinckneyville Comm High School Pinckneyville |
Public | 26.2 | 379 | -8.5% |
| Du Quoin High School Du Quoin |
Public | 32.3 | 397 | -14.1% |
| Johnston City High School Johnston City |
Public | 48.9 | 328 | -0.3% |
| Wesclin Sr High School Trenton |
Public | 45.3 | 343 | -11.6% |