Abraham Lincoln Middle School, Rockford IL

Original Research by School Decision on Abraham Lincoln Middle School

Abraham Lincoln Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade in Rockford, a mid-sized Illinois city experiencing renewed housing activity after a period of population decline. The school sits in a district that has recently reshaped its calendar and is pursuing major facility improvements over the next five years.

The school's state testing results show a clear academic picture that warrants close attention. In English language arts, sixth graders are performing near the school's stronger point, with about three in ten meeting or exceeding state proficiency standards. Seventh and eighth grades show similar performance, near a quarter to slightly under three in ten meeting standards. Math proficiency is substantially lower across all grade levels: in sixth grade, about one in twenty students meet proficiency; in seventh grade, about one in twelve; and in eighth grade, just over one in twenty. Science proficiency in eighth grade stands at about one in ten. These numbers place Abraham Lincoln's overall proficiency well below the midpoint among the county's districts, in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to look into the school's specific math support and intervention strategies with the school directly, as this is the area most needing attention.

The school's participation rates on state assessments are strong, hovering near or above participation targets across subjects and grades, suggesting data reliability. The school serves about seven hundred students, distributed fairly evenly across the three grade levels.

The student body is diverse: just over two in five students identify as Black, roughly one in four as Hispanic, one in six as white, and smaller populations from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. The school's free or reduced price lunch rate was not available in the data provided.

Abraham Lincoln is a regular public school, part of Rockford School District 205, which has made two significant recent changes relevant to families. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the district moved its start date forward by about two weeks to mid-August, now that all buildings have air conditioning; this shifts the academic calendar earlier and ends the first semester before winter break. Additionally, the district approved new attendance boundaries for 2021-22 that shifted which elementary schools feed into which middle schools, including which schools feed into Abraham Lincoln. The district is also executing a multiyear facilities master plan that includes expanding International Baccalaureate and STEAM offerings into middle school and building a new college-and-career center at the high school level.

Rockford itself is a city in transition. Downtown is undergoing revitalization with mixed-use development and a newly opened Main Library, and the city has seen renewed housing activity after years of decline, with commuter rail to Chicago expected in 2027. Housing costs are relatively moderate by national standards, and the local economy centers on healthcare, manufacturing, and education. For families at Abraham Lincoln, the school sits within a district investing in building condition improvements and expanded academic programs, though the immediate academic performance data shows significant ground to cover in math and science.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 14% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 78%

School 8% · District 16% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 16% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 33% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 29% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 34% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 26% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

This schoolRockford SD 205, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.