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Jefferson Middle School

Public Grades 6-8
1323rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,368 Illinois Middle Schools
Better than 3% of Illinois middle schools
Summary

Jefferson Middle School is a public middle school located in Springfield, Illinois, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 495 students. The school is part of the Springfield School District 186, which is ranked 714 out of 811 districts in Illinois and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Jefferson Middle School has consistently ranked in the bottom quarter of Illinois middle schools over the past several years.

Jefferson Middle School significantly underperforms compared to the state and district averages in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics proficiency. In the 2024-2025 school year, only 16% of students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 53.1% statewide and 34.6% in the district. In Mathematics, the proficiency rate was just 4.6%, compared to 38.5% statewide and 21.4% in the district. The school also has extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 25.4% to 51.0% over the past few years, significantly higher than the state and district averages.

The nearby middle schools in the Springfield School District, such as U.S. Grant Middle School and Washington Middle School, also perform poorly compared to state averages, but generally outperform Jefferson Middle School in academic proficiency and other key metrics. In contrast, Lincoln Magnet School, also part of the Springfield School District, demonstrates significantly higher academic performance, highlighting the potential impact of specialized programs and targeted resources on student outcomes.

517
Students ?
12.0
Student/teacher ratio ?
$21,634
Per pupil spending ?
80.7%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 3001 S Allis St
       Springfield, IL  62703-4208

(217) 585-5810

District: Springfield School District 186


Students who attend Jefferson Middle School usually attend:

High:    Springfield Southeast High School

Feeder schools for Jefferson Middle School:

Elementary:    Black Hawk Elementary School
    Harvard Park Elementary School
    Hazel Dell Elementary School
    Laketown Elementary School
    More...
Racial breakdown:

African American:
56.1%
White:
25.7%
Two or more races:
13.3%
more
 See top rated Illinois middle schools

 Compare Jefferson Middle School to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 12th percentile in 2015 → 3rd in 2025
Strengths
Small classes — about 12 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Illinois average (12% vs 46% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (3rd percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (51% vs 25% Illinois)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school12%
District avg28%
Illinois avg46%
1,323rd of 1,368
Illinois public middle schools ?
Bottom 3%▼ down 9 pts since 2015
From bottom 12% (2015) to bottom 3% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Illinois Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
4th of 5Middle Schools in the Springfield School District 186
714th of 811Springfield School District 186 among Illinois districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20259.41323 of 13683.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202412.11287 of 13635.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.11320 of 13673.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202211.81329 of 13692.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202115.61115 of 124110.2%★☆☆☆☆
201913.31237 of 13568.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201815.01145 of 129311.4%★☆☆☆☆
201713.61184 of 12938.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201613.71197 of 12947.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201516.21144 of 130212.1%★☆☆☆☆
201413.31199 of 13229.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20139.91278 of 13676.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20126.21311 of 13654.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20118.11273 of 13445.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201012.71192 of 132710.2%★☆☆☆☆
200912.51182 of 131810.3%★☆☆☆☆
200812.51145 of 129311.4%★☆☆☆☆
200711.41149 of 128710.7%★☆☆☆☆
200620.71052 of 127217.3%★☆☆☆☆
200523.9944 of 120921.9%★☆☆☆☆
200417.4983 of 120418.4%★☆☆☆☆
200324.3915 of 118522.8%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202516.4553 of 5743.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202421.0501 of 5488.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.8542 of 5694.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202222.7537 of 5736.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202128.8306 of 38520.5%★☆☆☆☆
201922.1513 of 5659.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201825.3427 of 51116.4%★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202520.3642 of 6947.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202421.6595 of 6396.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202323.7588 of 67412.8%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202510.81176 of 12485.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202411.21201 of 12514.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.31221 of 12754.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202211.41245 of 12863.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202115.0923 of 10179.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201912.01186 of 12767.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201812.41137 of 12267.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202520.152 of 5810.3%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202511.01203 of 12292.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202415.01152 of 12195.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.81190 of 12343.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202213.91195 of 12212.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202123.1869 of 101914.7%★☆☆☆☆
201916.51124 of 12177.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201821.5982 of 116115.4%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20258.81244 of 12712.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.51169 of 12647.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202312.11245 of 12923.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202213.31220 of 12865.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202113.8985 of 10486.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201915.61156 of 129610.8%★☆☆☆☆
201818.61037 of 122315.2%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20258.9195 of 2044.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202411.8176 of 1844.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.3189 of 1942.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20229.0194 of 1950.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20199.3168 of 1796.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201810.5159 of 1643.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202514.3784 of 8123.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202416.8787 of 8021.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.0777 of 8053.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202230.4589 of 78124.6%★☆☆☆☆
202128.5438 of 54820.1%★☆☆☆☆
201925.7677 of 79214.5%★☆☆☆☆
201824.8496 of 60217.6%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20255.2873 of 8841.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20246.1860 of 8751.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20235.7885 of 8951.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20225.3890 of 8980.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202110.7783 of 8133.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20198.6878 of 9053.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201811.0840 of 8895.5%☆☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Homeless (2025)10th percentile+7 vs school
Disabled (2025)7th percentile+4 vs school
Female (2025)6th percentile~ school
Multi-racial (2025)4th percentile~ school
African American (2025)4th percentile~ school
Special Education (2025)3rd percentile~ school
Male (2025)2nd percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)2nd percentile~ school
White (2025)1st percentile~ school
By subject vs Illinois (2024-2025) ?
Science17%-29 vs state
English Language Arts16%-37 vs state
Mathematics5%-34 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Jefferson Middle School

Students who attend Jefferson Middle School usually go on to attend Springfield Southeast High School

Students at Jefferson Middle School are 56% African American, 26% White, 13% Two or more races, 4% Hispanic.

Jefferson Middle School ranks in the bottom 3.3% of Illinois middle schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 517 students attended Jefferson Middle School.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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