The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in Science. The lowest is 8% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Coolidge Junior High Sch
Coolidge Junior High serves seventh and eighth grade students in Granite City, Illinois, as part of Granite City CUSD 9. The school is located in the Wilson Park area, a cluster that also includes other district schools and sits separately from downtown.
The student body at Coolidge reflects the city's composition. Just over three-fifths of students are white, with Black students and Hispanic students each making up a meaningful share, around one-fifth and one-sixth respectively. Enrollment is stable at roughly mid-sized for a junior high. Free or reduced-price lunch data was not available, limiting visibility into economic need at the building level.
State testing data shows that academic proficiency at Coolidge is very low. In seventh-grade mathematics and English language arts, the school's proficiency rates were single-digit and mid-teen percentages respectively. Eighth grade performed somewhat better, with math proficiency in the single digits and English language arts proficiency around one-quarter. Science proficiency for eighth grade was near the high-double-digits. These results place Coolidge in the bottom quartile of schools across Madison County's districts when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. Participation rates were very high, above ninety-five percent in all tested grades, indicating the proficiency gap does not stem from absenteeism on test days. The data does not explain whether these low results reflect concentrated student needs, staffing or resource challenges, curriculum choices, or other factors. A parent would want to discuss directly with the school what is driving these numbers and what the district's improvement strategy is.
The broader district underwent a significant structural change for 2025-26, shifting from a traditional middle-school model to a K-6 elementary and 7-8 junior-high configuration, with attendance zones redrawn to keep each student in the same attendance zone building from kindergarten through eighth grade. This means a child's neighborhood determines not just which elementary they attend but also whether they go to Coolidge or to Grigsby Intermediate for secondary grades.
The district also issued substantial working-capital bonds in late 2023 through a non-referendum process, without a voter ballot. The district committed publicly to absorbing the repayment costs without raising the property tax rate, though this represents a long-term debt obligation that shifted without direct taxpayer input.
Granite City itself is a working-class steel town on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, part of the St. Louis metropolitan area. It has older residential neighborhoods and a separate commercial strip along Nameoki Road. The city's identity is tied to steel manufacturing, and U.S. Steel's Granite City Works remains the dominant employer. The mill went through major layoffs in 2023, but the company announced it would restart a blast furnace in 2026, expected to bring back more than a hundred manufacturing jobs. Housing is affordable; median home prices are well below state and national benchmarks, reflecting an older housing stock rather than growth-driven appreciation. The city is pursuing infill development and downtown revitalization, including a new entertainment venue and restaurant corridor that opened in 2022. Parks and recreation are anchored by the Schoolhouse Trail, a regional multi-use path network of over eighty miles that connects to downtown St. Louis.
Attendance at Coolidge would mean being part of a junior high in a district-wide transition and a city watching its largest employer carefully. Parents evaluating the school should seek specifics on the academic support plan and the drivers behind the current proficiency numbers, and understand how the newly configured K-6 attendance zones align with their home address.
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