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J Sterling Morton West High Sch

Berwyn · IL · J S Morton HSD 201 · Public

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📚AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally 📖48 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 48 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 38 calculus classes · 6 physics · 61 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Top 0.2% by test-taker volume

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

💡

How J Sterling Morton West High Sch compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 48 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: J Sterling Morton East High Sch, Cornerstone Academy, Riverside Brookfield Twp HS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
48
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
54
38 calculus · 16 advanced
Lab science classes
67
6 physics · 61 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

Top 0.2% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
1,441
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
42.7
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)
9.1%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
21.3%
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

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

78.2%
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)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

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
16.1%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
544
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
281:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
12.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
189
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 951 in 2021 to 953 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+0.2%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -2.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 3,374 students:

2025
3,297
2027
3,147
2029
3,005

≈ 369 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 $20,780 per student in district revenue, the 369 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $7,667,820/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.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

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

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
J Sterling Morton East High Sch
Cicero
Public 1.4 3,394 +1.0%
Cornerstone Academy
Oak Park
Private 1.6 14
Riverside Brookfield Twp HS
Riverside
Public 2.0 1,663 +0.6%
Proviso Math and Science Academy
Forest Park
Public 2.1 925 +6.7%
Fenwick High School
Oak Park
Private 2.5 1,101 -7.9%
Harbor Academy Reg Safe Sch Prg
Maywood
Public 2.6
West 40-Sr. Plus
Maywood
Public 2.6
TAPESTRY ALOP
Maywood
Public 2.6

For Parents

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