Geo T Wilkins Jr High School, Justice IL

Original Research by School Decision on Geo T Wilkins Jr High School

Geo T Wilkins Jr High School is a public middle school serving seventh and eighth grade students in Justice, a small residential suburb in southwest Cook County. The school has a roughly balanced enrollment split evenly between the two grade levels. The student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with roughly equal shares of white and Hispanic students, along with a meaningful presence of Black students and smaller numbers of Asian students and students of two or more races.

Testing results from state assessments show uneven performance across subjects. In English language arts, students in both grades met proficiency at rates above the midpoint: seventh graders reached proficiency at a higher rate, while eighth graders came in somewhat lower. Math results were markedly weaker. Seventh-grade math proficiency landed at a low level, and eighth-grade math proficiency dropped further. Eighth-grade science proficiency was also low. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint among other schools in Cook County. Test participation rates were high, above nine in ten students in every tested grade and subject.

The school sits in Justice, a growing but quiet village of modest size built mostly around small businesses along Archer Avenue. The housing stock is mixed and aging, with ranches, Tudors, and newer townhouses, and the population skews young. There is no downtown center; Justice is dispersed and auto-oriented. Most residents commute to jobs elsewhere in transportation, warehousing, and retail. Median home values in the zip code are slightly above the county median. The village has been adding residential units in recent years, with new townhome projects and multi-family buildings, positioning itself as a family community.

Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, English learners, and staffing were not available. A parent may want to look into these supports directly with the school. The district brief did not surface recent major policy changes, curriculum shifts, or referenda. The school's comparison position on proficiency is not aligned with strong county performance on state tests, so a parent focused on test outcomes would want to discuss with the school what approaches are underway in math and science in particular.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 35%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Science

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolIndian Springs SD 109, 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.