Normal Community West High School

Normal · IL · McLean County USD 5 · Public


AP rigor: Top 3.7% nationally 15 AP courses

At a glance

Programs & features
  • 15 AP courses offered — Elite
  • Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • Gifted & talented program
  • 3 calculus classes · 7 physics · 16 chemistry
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: Top 3.7% of US high schools
  • SAT/ACT participation: Top 3.9% by test-taker volume

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

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How Normal Community West High School compares for families

Among the nation's most academically rigorous high schools.

  • ▸ StatewideAP rigor sits in the top 3.7% of US high schools with 15 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: Bloomington High School, Normal Community High School, McClean Co Detention Center 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

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

Top 3.7% of US high schools

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
15
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
198
≈12 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
17
3 calculus · 14 advanced
Lab science classes
23
7 physics · 16 chemistry
Other rigor signals
Dual-enrollment program
Gifted/talented 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

Top 3.9% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
671
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
42.2
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)
3.0%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
60.9%
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 Targeted Assistance eligible

35-39% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Targeted Assistance

38.6%
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)

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

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
32.4%
Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.
Students absent 15+ days
538
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 most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss.

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

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
265:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
6.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
111
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 393 in 2021 to 395 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+0.5%

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 1,590 students:

2025
1,572
2027
1,536
2029
1,501

≈ 89 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

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

Revenue at risk

At $19,593 per student in district revenue, the 89 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $1,743,777/year in funding at risk.

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
Bloomington High School
Bloomington
Public 3.6 1,369 -12.2%
Normal Community High School
Normal
Public 5.7 2,079 -3.5%
McClean Co Detention Center
Normal
Public 1.3 — —
Safe School Program
Bloomington
Public 3.5 — —
Regional Alop School
Bloomington
Public 3.5 — —
University High School
Normal
Public 1.5 624 +3.1%
Bloomington Area Career Center
Bloomington
Public 3.6 — —
Central Illinois Bridge Academy
Normal
Public 4.2 — —

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Normal Community West High School is a public high school in Normal, IL, enrolling 1,590 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Enrollment is up 0% from 2021 to 2024.

It offers 15 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 96% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).

671 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 96% of U.S. high schools.

It has about 265 students per school counselor.

32% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.

Questions families ask

How many AP courses does Normal Community West High School offer? Normal Community West High School offers 15 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 96% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).

How many students attend Normal Community West High School? Normal Community West High School is a public high school in Normal, IL, enrolling 1,590 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

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