Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School

Cowden · IL · Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A · Public · K-12 combined

Public 🏛 Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A →

Similar nearby schools

Most similar nearby schools

Beecher City Jr-Sr High School → Mid-America Preparatory School → Shelbyville High School → Shelbyville Bridges → Stewardson-Strasburg High School → Altamont High School → St Elmo Sr High School → Ramsey High School →

📋 At a glance

Programs & features

✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)

Academic signals

🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 33% of US high schools
📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 28% by test-taker volume

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

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How Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School compares for families

What families should know about Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School.

▸ 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: Beecher City Jr-Sr High School, Mid-America Preparatory School, Shelbyville High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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Get an email when Cowden-Herrick Jr/Sr High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 28% by test-taker volume

SAT/ACT test-takers

11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test

Test-taking intensity

25.7

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)

3.1%

Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.

% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)

18.8%

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 Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

64.3%

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)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

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

19.0%

Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.

Students absent 15+ days

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

168:1

Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.

Counselor FTE

1.0

Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.

Teacher FTE

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

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +0.8%/year, projecting from 2024's 168 students:

2025

169

2027

172

2029

175

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

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
Beecher City Jr-Sr High School Beecher City	Public	5.2	91	-14.2%
Mid-America Preparatory School Herrick	Private	6.9	91	+19.7%
Shelbyville High School Shelbyville	Public	12.2	345	-6.2%
Shelbyville Bridges Shelbyville	Public	12.9	—	—
Stewardson-Strasburg High School Strasburg	Public	13.7	143	+12.6%
Altamont High School Altamont	Public	14.3	222	-10.5%
St Elmo Sr High School Saint Elmo	Public	14.3	113	-9.6%
Ramsey High School Ramsey	Public	15.2	103	-22.6%