← IL High School Explorer

Central High School

Burilngton · IL · Central CUSD 301 · Public

📄 Shareable scorecard →

📖17 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 17 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 2 calculus classes · 4 physics · 14 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 71th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 95th percentile by test-taker volume

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

💡

How Central High School compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 71th percentile nationally with 17 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: ALOP, Cambridge Lakes Charter School, Hampshire High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

📬

Follow Central High School

Get an email when Central High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

71th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
17
Subject breadth not reported
Advanced math classes
19
2 calculus · 17 advanced
Lab science classes
18
4 physics · 14 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

95th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
587
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
37.3
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)
22.6%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
24.6%
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%)

17.1%
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)

<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.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
13.4%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
211
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. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

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

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
394:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
4.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
81
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 361 in 2021 to 370 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+2.5%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +4.9%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,575 students:

2025
1,653
2027
1,820
2029
2,004

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

Revenue upside

At $21,995 per student in district revenue, the 429 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $9,435,855/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.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
ALOP
Burlington
Public 0.0
Cambridge Lakes Charter School
Pingree Grove
Public · charter 5.3 25
Hampshire High School
Hampshire
Public 7.2 2,046 +6.2%
Westminster Christian School
Elgin
Private 7.6 304 -3.2%
Harvest Christian Academy
Elgin
Private 7.7 444 -23.3%
Larkin High School
Elgin
Public 8.9 2,173 -3.4%
St Charles North High School
Saint Charles
Public 9.7 1,903 -3.9%
Fox Valley Career Center
Maple Park
Public 9.7

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Central High School?

Get a personalized College Plan Audit — find Reach, Target, and Safety colleges matched to your kid's GPA, test scores, intended major, and your family's budget. Free.

Start the College Plan Audit →

For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →