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Oliver W Holmes Middle School

Public Grades 6-8
978th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,126 Illinois Middle Schools
Better than 13% of Illinois middle schools
Summary

Oliver W Holmes Middle School serves 615 students in grades 6–8 in Wheeling, Illinois, and is compared with nearby middle and junior high schools. Its latest results show improvement in reading and math, but the clearest concern is that it scored below every nearby school in all three reported areas: English Language Arts (ELA), math, and eighth-grade science.

ELA is Holmes’s strongest result relative to the district and state, while science is its weakest: in 2025–2026, Holmes had 41% proficiency in ELA, compared with 51% in Wheeling CCSD 21 and 56% statewide; math was 22%, versus 37% and 40%; and eighth-grade science was 32%, versus 51% and 52%. Holmes was also well below the nearby-school averages of 76% in ELA, 63% in math, and 74% in science. In each subject, Jack London Middle School was the next-lowest nearby school. Within Holmes, eighth-grade ELA was a relative bright spot at 44%, but it remained below the state’s eighth-grade result of 63%.

Holmes’s scores have risen since 2023–2024: ELA increased by 19 percentage points, from 22% to 41%, and math by 11 points, from 11% to 22%. Still, SchoolDigger placed the school in the 13th statewide percentile and awarded it 1 star in 2025–2026, down from the 23rd percentile in 2023–2024. Context measures are not outliers locally: the 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible rate was 71%, and the student–teacher ratio was 10.9, close to the nearby-school average of 11.3. SchoolDigger’s effectiveness ranking for White students was 30th percentile in 2025–2026, above the school’s overall ranking; its ranking for English Language Learner students fell from the 26th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 7th in 2024–2025, then rose to the 9th in 2025–2026.

615
Students ?
10.9
Student/teacher ratio ?
$24,222
Per pupil spending ?
71.2%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
99.1%
Measles protection (all grades) (2025-26)
 221 S Wolf Rd
       Wheeling, IL  60090-4843

(847) 520-2790

District: Wheeling CCSD 21


Students who attend Oliver W Holmes Middle School usually attend:

High:    Wheeling High School

Feeder schools for Oliver W Holmes Middle School:

Elementary:    Mark Twain Elementary School
    Robert Frost Elementary School
    Walt Whitman Elementary School
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
72.7%
White:
13.7%
Asian:
6.0%
more
 See top rated Illinois middle schools

 Compare Oliver W Holmes Middle School to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 32nd percentile in 2016 → 13th in 2026
Strengths
✓Small classes — about 11 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Illinois average (32% vs 49% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (13th percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 19 percentile points since 2016
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school32%
District avg46%
Illinois avg49%
978th of 1,126
Illinois public middle schools ?
Bottom 13%▼ down 18 pts since 2016
From bottom 32% (2016) to bottom 13% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Illinois Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
3rd of 3Middle Schools in the Wheeling CCSD 21
554th of 738Wheeling CCSD 21 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
202614.9978 of 112613.1%★☆☆☆☆
202519.71121 of 136818.1%★☆☆☆☆
202422.41055 of 136322.6%★☆☆☆☆
202325.61001 of 136726.8%★☆☆☆☆
202229.5920 of 136932.8%★★☆☆☆
202126.8892 of 124128.1%★☆☆☆☆
201933.9867 of 135636.1%★★☆☆☆
201829.3908 of 129329.8%★☆☆☆☆
201735.2821 of 129336.5%★★☆☆☆
201631.0885 of 129431.6%★★☆☆☆
201535.0805 of 130238.2%★★☆☆☆
201430.8964 of 132227.1%★☆☆☆☆
201339.0886 of 136735.2%★★☆☆☆
201231.41033 of 136524.3%★☆☆☆☆
201131.11041 of 134422.5%★☆☆☆☆
201033.5991 of 132725.3%★☆☆☆☆
200940.6905 of 131831.3%★★☆☆☆
200840.3874 of 129332.4%★★☆☆☆
200743.1855 of 128733.6%★★☆☆☆
200647.6778 of 127238.8%★★☆☆☆
200545.5756 of 120937.5%★★☆☆☆
200454.1648 of 120446.2%★★☆☆☆
200339.0780 of 118534.2%★★☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202512.8166 of 18610.8%★☆☆☆☆
202414.7163 of 18411.4%★☆☆☆☆
202320.3170 of 19211.5%★☆☆☆☆
202224.3164 of 19817.2%★☆☆☆☆
201862.870 of 20966.5%★★★☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202533.6432 of 69437.8%★★☆☆☆
202427.1509 of 63920.3%★☆☆☆☆
202324.3576 of 67414.5%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202613.674 of 818.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202522.3448 of 4837.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202431.8362 of 48625.5%★☆☆☆☆
202329.8399 of 48016.9%★☆☆☆☆
202234.3338 of 45425.6%★☆☆☆☆
202130.7242 of 27712.6%★☆☆☆☆
201933.6268 of 33920.9%★☆☆☆☆
201836.8187 of 28534.4%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
20266.8810 of 8676.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202514.31108 of 124811.2%★☆☆☆☆
202419.51029 of 125117.7%★☆☆☆☆
202324.2963 of 127524.5%★☆☆☆☆
202227.1913 of 128629.0%★☆☆☆☆
202121.3831 of 101718.3%★☆☆☆☆
201929.8913 of 127628.4%★☆☆☆☆
201829.6882 of 122628.1%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202615.0429 of 48311.2%★☆☆☆☆
202517.4606 of 6699.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202417.5582 of 6439.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202320.1581 of 66112.1%★☆☆☆☆
202222.1568 of 66214.2%★☆☆☆☆
202120.4461 of 51710.8%★☆☆☆☆
201928.6492 of 63923.0%★☆☆☆☆
201821.3516 of 59012.5%★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202458.915 of 7078.6%★★★★☆
202328.043 of 5318.9%★☆☆☆☆
201943.420 of 3644.4%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202621.8653 of 78817.1%★☆☆☆☆
202523.21004 of 122918.3%★☆☆☆☆
202424.8968 of 121920.6%★☆☆☆☆
202329.4905 of 123426.7%★☆☆☆☆
202237.1724 of 122140.7%★★☆☆☆
202137.0628 of 101938.4%★★☆☆☆
201939.2737 of 121739.4%★★☆☆☆
201834.0790 of 116132.0%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202617.0697 of 82915.9%★☆☆☆☆
202525.3930 of 127126.8%★☆☆☆☆
202425.7911 of 126427.9%★☆☆☆☆
202327.2919 of 129228.9%★☆☆☆☆
202232.9809 of 128637.1%★★☆☆☆
202130.2717 of 104831.6%★★☆☆☆
201938.4749 of 129642.2%★★☆☆☆
201829.0851 of 122330.4%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202528.3558 of 81231.3%★★☆☆☆
202425.0647 of 80219.3%★☆☆☆☆
202325.7632 of 80521.5%★☆☆☆☆
202231.5560 of 78128.3%★☆☆☆☆
202130.4412 of 54824.8%★☆☆☆☆
201924.7700 of 79211.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201839.1305 of 60249.3%★★☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankIllinois percentileRating
202633.0528 of 75430.0%★★☆☆☆
202525.8688 of 88422.2%★☆☆☆☆
202434.4581 of 87533.6%★★☆☆☆
202343.5488 of 89545.5%★★☆☆☆
202257.7343 of 89861.8%★★★☆☆
202138.6477 of 81341.3%★★☆☆☆
201951.0427 of 90552.8%★★★☆☆
201852.1403 of 88954.7%★★★☆☆
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 (2024)79th percentile+56 vs school
Disabled (2025)38th percentile+20 vs school
Special Education (2025)31st percentile+13 vs school
White (2026)30th percentile+17 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)17th percentile+4 vs school
Male (2026)16th percentile+3 vs school
Hispanic (2026)11th percentile~ school
Asian (2025)11th percentile-7 vs school
English Language Learner (2026)9th percentile-5 vs school
Female (2026)7th percentile-7 vs school
By subject vs Illinois (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts41%-16 vs state
Science32%-20 vs state
Mathematics22%-18 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Oliver W Holmes Middle School

In the 2024-25 school year, 615 students attended Oliver W Holmes Middle School.

Students who attend Oliver W Holmes Middle School usually go on to attend Wheeling High School

Students at Oliver W Holmes Middle School are 73% Hispanic, 14% White, 6% Asian, 5% African American, 2% Two or more races.

Oliver W Holmes Middle School ranks in the bottom 13.1% of Illinois middle schools.

Rate Oliver W Holmes Middle School!



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Latest Illinois data All new data »
2025–26 school spending dataNewOct 30, 2026
2025–26 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesNewOct 30, 2026
2025–26 ACT, IAR, ISA & PreACT Secure test scoresNewOct 30, 2026
2013–14 through 2025–26 immunization rates (updated)NewOct 19, 2026


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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