Orion High School

Orion · IL · Orion CUSD 223 · Public


At a glance

Programs & features
  • Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 2 calculus classes · 1 physics · 3 chemistry
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: Bottom 47% of US high schools
  • SAT/ACT participation: 53rd percentile by test-taker volume

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

Keep this page current

Work at Orion High School? If this page is missing your newest school profile, matriculation list, or college acceptances, send us the links. We read the document, copy the figures exactly as published, and cite it on this page.

Send us links

Links only, please. We can't take file uploads, and we never publish a number without the document it came from.

By sending this you agree that we may email you about your request. We write by email only, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

You've seen Orion High School. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + the real cost range for every college on their list. Check odds →

How Orion High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • ▸ 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: Sherrard High School, Riverdale Sr High School, Rockridge High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

Get alerts when Orion High School's numbers change

New admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

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

Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Moderate — some AP / advanced course access

Bottom 47% of US high schools

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
Advanced math classes
8
2 calculus · 6 advanced
Lab science classes
4
1 physics · 3 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

53rd percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
78
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
27.4
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)
17.5%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
15.0%
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

Lower-need school

Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)

17.9%
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)

<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.

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
16.0%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
49
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 ÷ 2021 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
285:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
1.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
19
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 81 in 2021 to 63 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-22.2%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -2.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 285 students:

2025
277
2027
263
2029
249

≈ 36 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 $15,954 per student in district revenue, the 36 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $574,344/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
Sherrard High School
Sherrard
Public 8.4 449 +4.4%
Riverdale Sr High School
Port Byron
Public 18.9 324 +1.2%
Rockridge High School
Taylor Ridge
Public 20.8 330 -12.0%
Cambridge Jr/Sr High School
Cambridge
Public 9.4 123 +1.7%
United Twp Area Career Ctr
East Moline
Public 10.1 — —
Mercer County High School
Aledo
Public 22.9 411 +4.6%
Knoxville Sr High School
Knoxville
Public 31.3 272 -17.8%
R O W V A Jr and Sr High School
Oneida
Public 20.7 166 -16.2%

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Orion High School is a public high school in Orion, IL, enrolling 285 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Enrollment is down 22% from 2021 to 2024.

78 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 53% of U.S. high schools.

It has about 285 students per school counselor.

16% 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 students attend Orion High School? Orion High School is a public high school in Orion, IL, enrolling 285 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.

What does AI tell parents about Orion High School?

When a parent asks an AI assistant about Orion High School, the answer is built from a handful of sources, and Reach is often one of them. We will send your school a short report on what AI says about Orion High School and where it comes from. The first report is free.

Request the free report

By sending this you agree that we may email you about your request. We write by email only, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Orion High School?

Check any college's odds in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely with real admit odds and your real net price, for every college on their list.

Check your child's odds →
What are your child's odds? →

What families ask next