Original Research by School Decision on Paris Cooperative High School 4
Paris Cooperative High School 4 is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Paris, a small county-seat city in east-central Illinois. The school enrolls a small student body distributed fairly evenly across the grade bands, with a student population that is overwhelmingly white and drawn from a small, stable community.
Paris itself is a sparse, car-oriented city anchored by a preserved downtown town square with 19th-century commercial buildings, shops, and cafes. The city is the seat of Edgar County and has positioned itself as a manufacturing and employment hub, with major employers in automotive lighting, health care, retail, and banking. Housing is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, and most residents own their homes. The population has been relatively flat to slightly declining over time, though the city actively pursues industrial recruitment and workforce-housing development to support local employers.
The school's state test data and four-year graduation rate were not available in the records reviewed, so a parent would need to contact the school or district directly to understand academic proficiency and completion rates. The school operates as part of Paris CUSD 4, and no recent district-level changes affecting curriculum, pedagogy, referendums, or significant policy shifts were found in available sources.
Enrollment data indicates that the school serves a genuinely small peer group. A substantial share of students are white; the enrollment includes very few students of other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, English learner status, and special education enrollment were not reported, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the socioeconomic composition of the student body and what support services are available for students with disabilities or language needs.
The school's location is in a rural setting outside the town proper, typical for high schools in small Illinois communities. The community's economic base is solid enough to support local employment and modest housing stability, though the area is not experiencing significant growth. A family considering the school should understand that it is a small school in a small town, serving a peer group drawn from a limited radius, and that academic and co-curricular opportunities will reflect the resources and scope of a district of that size. Parents interested in specific program offerings, AP or dual-credit pathways, or other academic details should reach out to the school directly, as that information was not available in the data reviewed.
See more original research from School Decision →