Carlyle Junior High School, Carlyle IL

Original Research by School Decision on Carlyle Junior High School

Carlyle Junior High School serves grades five through eight in a small county-seat town in southern Illinois. The school enrolls roughly a quarter-thousand students drawn almost entirely from Carlyle and the surrounding rural Clinton County area. The population is predominantly white, with small numbers of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students; specific counts of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, with individualized education plans, or classified as English learners were not available from the data.

The school sits within the central part of Carlyle, which is organized around a grid with the courthouse square at its center. Housing values in the area are below the state average, and home ownership is common; the town has experienced modest population change over recent years, though new subdivisions are being developed on the edges. Major local employment centers include health care (the HSHS clinic and affiliated hospital), state government and conservation jobs tied to Carlyle Lake, county government, and retail. Carlyle Lake itself, the largest man-made lake in Illinois, anchors civic and recreational life in the region.

In English language arts, the school shows strength in the middle and upper grades. Grade five students reached near two-thirds proficiency, sixth graders just under two-thirds, and seventh and eighth graders both performed at or above three-quarters proficiency on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. Mathematics proficiency tells a different story. Fifth graders in math reached just one-quarter proficiency, sixth graders roughly one-third, and seventh and eighth graders again in the mid-to-high thirties. The gap between ELA and math performance is substantial and consistent across grades. In science, tested grades five and eight showed proficiency rates in the mid-to-high range for grade five and lower for grade eight. State assessment data for grades three and four were not available; these grades may be tested at other district buildings.

Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school's overall proficiency rate places it in the bottom quartile among the county's other districts. A parent may want to look into the math program more closely with the school, given the consistent weakness in that subject across multiple grade levels.

The district recently completed a multi-year facilities upgrade. Grade School renovations were finished in summer 2024, and Carlyle High School received major improvements by fall 2025, including new ceilings, lighting, air conditioning in the gymnasium, an additional science lab, and security upgrades. These investments signal a commitment to learning environments that extend beyond the junior high but will affect the overall school experience.

Participation in state testing was universal or near-universal across the grades for which results were reported, and no chronic absenteeism data was available from the sources reviewed. The school functions as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet program.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 34%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 75%

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

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolCarlyle CUSD 1, 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.