The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in English language arts. The lowest is 33% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mattoon Middle School
Mattoon Middle School serves grades six through eight in Mattoon, a small Central Illinois city anchored by healthcare, agriculture, and retail employment. The school is part of Mattoon CUSD 2, a district that has invested significantly in regional career and technical pathways through the LIFT Regional Innovation Center, which opened in 2022 and now serves students from a wide range of surrounding districts with dual-credit and industry-credential programs. Students who graduate from Mattoon High School have access to this infrastructure at no extra tuition.
The enrollment is stable at around mid-size for this grade band, with roughly equal numbers across grades six, seven, and eight. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller representation of students who identify as multiracial, Hispanic, Asian, and Black. Specific counts of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and those receiving special education services or English learner support were not available in the data provided.
In state testing, Mattoon Middle School's proficiency in English language arts is broader than in mathematics. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in ELA, sixth and seventh graders showed stronger performance, with roughly half of seventh graders demonstrating proficiency. Eighth-grade ELA proficiency was somewhat lower. Math proficiency across grades six through eight sat in the lower third of the range tested, with roughly one-third of students meeting the proficiency threshold in each grade. In science, eighth-grade results showed proficiency at around four in ten students. It's worth noting that Illinois adjusted its proficiency cut scores across all tested subjects beginning in the 2024-25 school year, which means comparisons to prior-year data are not available. A parent may want to ask the school about the factors influencing math performance and what interventions or support structures are in place to help students build skills in that area.
On the academic performance composite used to compare schools within Coles County, Mattoon Middle School sits above the midpoint among the three schools for which data was available in this district grouping. Participation rates were high across all assessments, with nearly all students taking the tests.
The town of Mattoon itself is a historically industrial city shaped by rail and coal, with a working downtown centered on a recently renovated Amtrak depot and locally-owned shops and eateries. Housing consists mainly of affordable single-family ranch homes on large lots, with some multi-family rental units near downtown. The housing market is relatively affordable; monthly rent sits well below mortgage payments for comparable properties. Major employers include a health system, a farm-and-home retailer with corporate headquarters there, a telecommunications company, and Lake Land College. The city describes itself as in a growth phase, with new supportive housing and modest subdivision development underway along with plans to convert upper downtown floors to residential space and expand the industrial park.
Student support services data, attendance patterns, staff information, course catalog, and discipline records were not provided, so families may want to reach out directly to the school to understand the full picture of advising, intervention programs, extracurricular offerings, and school climate.
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