Bismarck-henning Jr High School, Bismarck IL

Original Research by School Decision on Bismarck-henning Jr High School

Bismarck-Henning Jr High School serves grades five through eight in a small, rural village in Vermilion County. The school enrolls a modest student body drawn mainly from a tight geographic area. The enrollment is distributed relatively evenly across the four grade levels, with fifth and eighth grades comprising a somewhat larger share.

The student population is predominantly white, with smaller numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Demographic data on free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learners was not available. Across the available academic measures, state testing data was collected only for grades five through eight, as grades three and four testing results were not reported.

In English language arts, the school shows a spread in achievement across grade levels. Fifth and sixth graders demonstrate reading proficiency at roughly the midpoint between struggling and strong; seventh graders perform similarly. Eighth-grade reading proficiency is modestly higher. By contrast, eighth-grade mathematics proficiency is notably lower, with only a small fraction of students meeting state proficiency standards. Fifth and sixth graders also show low proficiency in math, though slightly higher than eighth grade. Seventh-grade math proficiency falls between those levels. Science results, available for fifth and eighth grades, fall in the low-to-moderate range.

When compared against other districts in Vermilion County, this school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among county schools. A parent may want to look into what specific supports or interventions the school is using in mathematics, particularly at the middle grades, given the notably lower proficiency in that subject relative to reading and to performance in neighboring districts.

The school is located within Bismarck, a very small village in Newell Township about a short distance north of Danville. The village is essentially flat to slowly declining in population. Most residents own their homes, and a notable share are retirees. The village footprint is small and rural in character rather than pedestrian-oriented. The school itself sits within the village proper rather than on an isolated campus. Bismarck has no documented large employers within its own boundaries; most working residents commute. The Bismarck-Henning schools are among the most visible institutional employers in the area. Housing values in the immediate zip code are substantially below both state and national medians, reflecting the rural setting and limited local job base. The cost of homeownership relative to household income is roughly in line with national norms.

The district serves three schools total and has experienced modest enrollment decline in recent years. No major curriculum changes or district initiatives of documented parent relevance were identified in recent district action.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolBismarck Henning CUSD, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.