Chester High School
Chester · IL · Chester CUSD 139 · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Steeleville High School → Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School → Trico Senior High School → Sparta High School → Coulterville High School → Red Bud High School → Monroe/Randolph Red Brick Sch → Marissa Jr & Sr High School →📋 At a glance
- 📚 2 AP courses offered — Strong
- 🔢 2 calculus classes · 6 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: 52th percentile nationally
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Chester High School compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 52th 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: Steeleville High School, Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School, Trico Senior High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses
52th 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.
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. 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.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -0.1%/year, projecting from 2024's 335 students:
≈ 2 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 $15,457 per student in district revenue, the 2 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $30,914/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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steeleville High School Steeleville |
Public | 10.0 | 148 | +8.0% |
| Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School Evansville |
Private | 13.1 | 20 | — |
| Trico Senior High School Campbell Hill |
Public | 13.6 | 220 | -4.3% |
| Sparta High School Sparta |
Public | 15.8 | 309 | -3.7% |
| Coulterville High School Coulterville |
Public | 21.6 | 64 | -12.3% |
| Red Bud High School Red Bud |
Public | 22.0 | 388 | -1.3% |
| Monroe/Randolph Red Brick Sch Red Bud |
Public | 22.5 | — | — |
| Marissa Jr & Sr High School Marissa |
Public | 23.7 | 167 | +0.0% |