Summary:
Zip code 61842 has one high school, Blue Ridge High School, serving grades 9–12 and enrolling 155 students. There is no school-to-school leader or bottom in this area; the central finding is that Blue Ridge’s reported 2025–2026 test proficiency was below Illinois in every comparable subject and grade.
The gaps vary by subject and grade. The school’s strongest relative result was grade 11 ACT English Language Arts, 4 percentage points below Illinois (46% versus 50%); its widest gap was grade 9 PreACT science, 13 points below (34% versus 47%). The 2025–2026 graduation rate was a bright spot: 94%, compared with 90% statewide, or 4 points higher. Chronic absenteeism was a concern by comparison: 33%, versus 24% statewide, or 10 points higher.
Recent results show improvement in earlier-grade ELA but a weaker grade 11 ACT profile. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, grade 9 PreACT ELA increased 15 points, from 41% to 56%, and grade 10 increased 3 points, from 46% to 49%. Grade 11 ACT ELA fell 16 points, from 61% to 46%; ACT science fell 5 points, while math rose 1 point. SchoolDigger’s ranking also moved down, from the 65th percentile and 3 stars in 2023–2024 to the 41st percentile and 2 stars in 2025–2026. The school’s student-teacher ratio was 7.7 in 2024–2025, and 43% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that year; these figures offer context, not a basis for explaining results. Because this is the only listed school, there is no within-area comparison; the latest PreACT math values are suppressed, year-to-year test results do not track the same students, and SchoolDigger’s ranking pool changes across years.
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