Original Research by School Decision on Chrisman High School
Chrisman High School is a small rural secondary school serving the village of Chrisman in east-central Illinois. The school enrolls roughly eighty-six students across grades nine through twelve, with relatively balanced enrollment across all four years. All enrolled students are white; the data did not provide information on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, nor on the count or rate of students with individualized education plans or English learner status.
The school sits on a campus on Illinois Highway 1 outside the downtown grid, shared with the junior high school. Chrisman itself is a very small rural city where residents work primarily in manufacturing, health care, and educational services. The community has a rural character, with most residents owning their homes and a significant retiree population. The city lacks public transit; residents rely on cars for daily commuting. Civic anchors include the Chrisman Public Library, City Hall on the in-town blocks, and city parks with trails. The broader region draws employment to Paris, Illinois, home to automotive and nutrition manufacturing firms, but Chrisman's own employment base is modest, centered on the school district itself, the library, and small retailers.
Chrisman's population has held roughly steady or declined slightly in recent years, and employment has declined year over year. Housing values in the area are well below both state and national averages, and the median household income for the county is moderate. New market-rate housing construction is not evident; the city's development pattern centers on small single-family homes and affordable multifamily units. This is a community with limited economic growth signals and a declining or flat trajectory.
State testing data for this school were not available, nor were graduation rate or chronic absenteeism figures. The absence of these metrics reflects how the school, as a small individual school within a rural district, may not meet state reporting thresholds or may sit outside certain accountability frameworks. A parent seeking detailed information about academic proficiency, graduation outcomes, or student attendance patterns should contact the school or the parent district, Edgar County CUD 6, directly. The district brief indicated no recent major curriculum changes, referendum activity, or building projects affecting the school.
The school serves a homogeneous student body in a tight-knit rural setting. For families choosing among Illinois high schools, this is a small neighborhood school in a declining rural area with a limited economic base. Peers are drawn almost entirely from the immediate community, and the peer environment reflects that rural, economically modest context. Without access to state assessment results or graduation data, a parent cannot evaluate whether this school's academic pathways and outcomes are strong, average, or weak relative to other Illinois schools. What is visible is the setting itself: a small-enrollment school in a small town with limited regional employment growth, suitable primarily for families already rooted in or moving to the Chrisman area.
See more original research from School Decision →