Original Research by School Decision on Centennial High School
Centennial High School is a regular public high school in Champaign serving grades nine through twelve, with enrollment that spans the middle range for a high school of its type. The school draws its student population from across the district, with a majority of students identifying as Black, and a substantial share identifying as white, Hispanic, or Asian. The remainder identify as two or more races. Specific data on free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility and on special-education or English-learner enrollment were not available.
The school sits within Champaign CUSD 4, a district that has undergone real structural changes in recent years. In 2023, the board adopted a plan called Schools of Choice, Scenario 4, which eliminated the balanced calendar, reconfigured two elementary schools into PreK-8 buildings, and reassigned select students. For families in the high school attendance area now, the chief legacy is that feeder middle schools no longer operate on a balanced calendar. The district has also embraced AVID, a college-readiness framework focused on writing, vocabulary, and notetaking, with all three of the district's middle schools designated as AVID National Demonstration Schools. Centennial families should expect these pedagogical approaches and structures to carry into the high school.
State assessment data for Centennial was not available, so a direct academic profile cannot be drawn from standardized testing results. Similarly, a four-year graduation rate for the school was not reported. Without these measures, it is not possible to offer a quantitative read on proficiency or completion. A parent weighing this school may want to request current academic performance data, graduation and college-placement rates, and the availability of AP, dual-credit, or career pathway offerings directly from the school or district.
Centennial occupies a location on Crescent Drive in Champaign, a mid-sized city anchored by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Champaign grew around the Illinois Central Railroad and the university, and today the city blends a historic downtown commercial district with a separate Campustown student district and residential neighborhoods. Downtown and the immediate campus area have strong walkability, with most errands accessible without a car. Public transportation is provided by the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, whose hub sits at Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign. Outlying neighborhoods have patchier walkability and sidewalk coverage, though the city has funded gap-filling projects in recent years, especially near schools.
The local housing market is moderate in price relative to national and state benchmarks. Home values in the area have appreciated modestly year over year, and rents have risen slightly. The price-to-income ratio and rent-to-income percentages suggest housing is affordable for households earning close to the area median income, though both ownership and rental markets are tightening. The county's top employers span education, healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics, with the university and hospital systems as anchors, and significant food processing and distribution operations.
Champaign is in a growth phase. Campustown saw a substantial wave of student housing construction in recent years, and mixed-income residential development is underway near downtown, with the city planning to add housing units to meet rising demand over the coming years. The Champaign Public Library recently expanded its downtown location. Public parks and recreational facilities include Centennial Park, an eighty-acre site in western Champaign, and Dodds Park in the northwest with multiple baseball and soccer fields. The city has downtown civic institutions and cultural offerings alongside the student-focused commercial district.
For a prospective high school student, Centennial represents a regular district high school in a university town with a growing population, moderate housing costs, and strong public services. The district's recent adoption of AVID and its elimination of the balanced calendar are details families should understand before enrollment.
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