The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in Science. The lowest is 28% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Momence Jr High School
Momence Jr High School serves grades five through eight in the small city of Momence in eastern Kankakee County, about fifty miles south of Chicago. The school enrolls a modest student body from a community anchored by a compact historic downtown with active civic institutions, small-scale employers, and a stable population. This is a school in a place with character but limited economic scale, which shapes both the school's peer environment and the academic challenges it faces.
The student body is diverse in racial and ethnic composition. White students make up roughly half the enrollment, Hispanic students a little under a third, and Black students about a sixth. Asian students and those identifying as two or more races make up a small remainder. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price-lunch rates or English learner enrollment counts, and special education statistics are also missing, so those dimensions of need are not visible in the available data. The grade five cohort is the largest, with enrollment tapering slightly through grade eight.
State assessment results for the current school year show proficiency rates well below what the field expects for healthy achievement. In math, only a little more than one in five of grade five students scored proficient or above, rising somewhat to roughly one third of grade six and one third of grade eight; grade seven trails at about one fifth. In English language arts, grade five achieved roughly two in five students at proficiency, but grade six dropped to about three in ten, grade seven fell to roughly one in six (the lowest performance across any tested grade in either subject), and grade eight recovered to about three in ten. Science results are slightly stronger: grade five showed just under four in ten students proficient, and grade eight reached just under one in two, the strongest single result in the school's tested grades. All tested grades reported at or near perfect participation rates.
Compared to districts elsewhere in Kankakee County, Momence Jr High's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint among county schools. The school does not serve a high school, so graduation rates do not apply. Chronic absenteeism data was not available.
The school is a regular public school with no magnet or charter designation. No data on course offerings, career and technical pathways, staffing stability, or student discipline emerged from the search, leaving gaps in understanding the school's instructional breadth and operational context. The school's website was not available in the research materials.
Momence itself is a community in transition. Downtown revitalization through the state-designated Main Street program signals civic investment, and civic anchors like Island Park and the restored Edward Chipman Public Library ground community life. Major employers include food processing firms such as Van Drunen Farms, and disability services providers like Good Shepherd Manor. The housing market is small and tight, characterized as a seller's market with modest inventory. A 2022 referendum to change school board elections from township-based residency rules to at-large governance failed, keeping the long-standing residency geography in place. In early 2025, the district moved forward with fire prevention and safety bonds and engaged an architect for a window replacement project at the high school building, signaling deferred capital maintenance being addressed.
Families considering this school should understand that it sits in a community with real civic identity and intentional investment, but also real economic constraints, and that proficiency levels are significantly below state norms across tested subjects. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about supports available to students, the causes of the lower performance, and what instructional and intervention strategies are in place.
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