The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in English language arts. The lowest is 50% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Carterville Jr High Sch
Carterville Jr High School is a middle school serving seventh and eighth grade in a small residential community between Carbondale and Marion in Williamson County. The enrollment is modest and evenly split between the two grades.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data and counts of students with IEPs or English learner status were not available, limiting the full picture of economic and support needs in the school population.
On Illinois state assessments, the school shows a mixed academic profile. In seventh-grade English Language Arts, about three-fifths of students test at proficient or above. Eighth grade is stronger in ELA, with about seven in ten students proficient. Eighth-grade science sits at about half the class meeting proficiency. Mathematics is where performance drops more noticeably. Seventh-grade math shows about three-fifths proficient, but eighth-grade math falls to about two-fifths proficient. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Williamson County. Student participation rates on state assessments are consistently high, near or above ninety-eight percent, indicating the school and families are engaged with testing.
The grades served by this school do not take the state's science assessment in seventh grade, nor does the school administer math and ELA to third through sixth grade, so those results are not available. Illinois changed its proficiency cut scores for the assessments used here, so year-to-year trend comparison is not straightforward.
Carterville itself is a steady residential growth area with new apartment developments like Woodland Crossing opening near the new high school. Housing values in the zip code are moderate, and rents align roughly with national affordability benchmarks. The community's civic life centers on a small historic downtown on Division Street, the Anne West Lindsey District Library, John A. Logan Community College, and outdoor access to Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. Local employment anchors include health care, education, and retail; coal mining has been replaced by these sectors over time. The school district remains a defining institution in daily community life. No significant district-level policy or curriculum changes were identified in recent years.
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