The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Durand Jr High School
Durand Jr High School serves a small cohort of about middle-grades students in grades seven and eight in rural Winnebago County. The school sits on the village's south-side campus alongside the high school and the public library. Durand is a compact residential village nestled in farmland with a downtown anchored by a central park strip and small local businesses, the kind of place where community is visible and tangible.
The academic picture is mixed, with real vulnerabilities in core subjects. In mathematics, proficiency is notably low: the eighth-grade class shows weak performance, and seventh grade is closer to the low end of the range. English language arts is the stronger subject; seventh and eighth graders both show reasonable proficiency here, with eighth grade performing better. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits at the midpoint. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint when compared against other districts in Winnebago County. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school directly about instructional supports in math, where the gap is most pronounced, and what progress looks like across the grade levels.
State testing data was not available for grades three through six at this school, which typically reflects that this is a junior high serving only grades seven and eight. The school reports full participation in state assessments for the grades tested.
The enrollment is quite small, under a hundred students total, divided between the two grades. The student body is predominantly white with a small representation of Hispanic students and students identifying as multiracial. No data on free and reduced-price lunch eligibility or special education and English learner populations were available, so a parent interested in those details should contact the school directly. Civil rights data was not present in the available information.
Durand itself is in the midst of modest but tangible growth. The village completed a community revitalization plan in early 2025 and has just begun its first new residential subdivision in over a decade, with dozens of new homes planned at moderate price points. The downtown square underwent a streetscape rebuild a few years ago that has visibly reinvigorated the business district. Housing values in the zip code are below state and national medians, and the area remains affordable relative to income. The wider region is rural, reached by state routes rather than highways, and school transportation runs by district bus.
The school district itself has relatively thin recent history in parent-facing changes; no major referendums, curriculum overhauls, or tax measures were identified. The district appears to operate in steady-state mode in a small rural community where educational decisions are made locally without high visibility outside the district.
For families considering this school, it is fundamentally a small-town, community-based junior high with genuine academic challenges in mathematics that merit investigation before enrollment. It is the default pathway for students in Durand, embedded in a village with growing housing stock and a clear emphasis on local identity and civic life. The peer environment is small and mostly homogeneous by race and ethnicity. Whether this fits depends on whether a family is comfortable with modest academic performance, values proximity to home and community rootedness, and is willing to actively monitor and supplement instruction in weaker subject areas.
See more original research from School Decision →