The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in Science. The lowest is 15% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Freeport Middle School
Freeport Middle School is a traditional public middle school serving seventh and eighth grades in a small Illinois county-seat city. It enrolls a modest-sized cohort, roughly split between the two grades, drawn from a diverse student body: enrollment includes substantial representation from Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students, alongside white students and small numbers of Asian students. The school conducts state testing in mathematics, English language arts, and science at grades seven and eight.
The state assessment results reflect significant academic challenges. In seventh-grade math, proficiency sits well below half. Eighth-grade math performance is substantially lower still, with fewer than one in five students reaching proficiency. In English language arts, seventh-grade proficiency is modestly higher than math, but eighth-grade proficiency, while the strongest performance across tested subjects, remains below one-third. Science proficiency at eighth grade follows a similar pattern to ELA. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's mean proficiency falls in the bottom quartile when compared against other districts in Stephenson County, the comparison set available for this locale.
Participation rates in the state assessment are high and consistent, near universal across math and ELA. The data carries a technical note: Illinois adjusted cut scores for proficiency in 2024-25, which affects trend interpretation, so comparisons to prior years are not directly available.
The school sits within Freeport, a small city of roughly mid-five-figure population that functions as the county seat, centered on a walkable historic downtown with brick-faced buildings, local restaurants, and boutique shops. The broader region is rural northwest Illinois. Freeport's economy has historically rested on manufacturing and health care; the city has experienced modest long-term population decline. Housing is notably affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, and rental costs remain low. The broader area is served by limited public transit.
Freeport School District 145 has undertaken a district-wide grade reconfiguration, with changes rolling out in 2025 and 2026. Elementary schools are shifting from kindergarten through fourth to kindergarten through fifth grades. A magnet school focused on the International Baccalaureate program is expanding from kindergarten through sixth to eventually serve kindergarten through eighth, creating a new K-8 IB pathway option within the district. Preschool programs are being consolidated into a new central site. These shifts represent structural changes to building assignments and grade bands across the district. The district has also adopted a college and career readiness framework district-wide, building on a Career Academy model at the high school, with explicit postsecondary planning and culturally responsive teaching practices now embedded in classroom instruction.
The test results themselves paint a picture a parent may want to explore in depth with the school: academic performance across subjects is notably below the county median, and the downward trend from seventh to eighth grade in mathematics is particularly steep. A parent considering this school would benefit from conversations with staff about current interventions, instructional approaches, and support structures in place, as well as what the trajectory looks like when students enter from elementary schools now operating under the reconfigured model.
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