Is Sterling High School a good school?

Sterling High School ranks 372 nd of 697 Illinois high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Sterling High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 996 students attended Sterling High School.

What is the racial makeup of Sterling High School?

Students at Sterling High School are 52% White, 39% Hispanic, 6% Two or more races, 2% African American, 1% Asian.

What schools feed into Sterling High School?

Sterling High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Franklin Elementary School Elementary : Jefferson Elementary School Elementary : Lincoln Elementary School Elementary : Washington Elementary School Middle : Challand Middle School

Sterling High School

Summary:

Sterling High School is a public high school located in Sterling, Illinois, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 1,049 students. The school is part of the Sterling CUSD 5 district, which is ranked 509 out of 813 districts in Illinois and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Sterling High School has consistently ranked in the middle to lower range of Illinois high schools, typically ranking between 325-372 out of 697-699 high schools in the state. The school's four-year graduation rate has been in the range of 86-90.5%, slightly below the state average, and its dropout rate has been between 2.1-6.2%, higher than the state's average. Additionally, Sterling High School has experienced high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 18.5% to 23.5% in the past few years, significantly above the state average. In standardized tests, the school's students have consistently underperformed compared to the state averages in both mathematics and English language arts proficiency on the SAT and ISA exams.

When comparing Sterling High School to nearby schools, such as Prophetstown High School, Polo Community High School, and Morrison High School, the nearby schools generally outperform Sterling High School in terms of statewide rankings, graduation rates, and academic proficiency. Additionally, Sterling High School has a significant proportion of students (45.38% in 2022-2023) who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a relatively high level of economic disadvantage among the student population, which may contribute to the school's lower academic performance and higher rates of chronic absenteeism and dropout.

Detail:

Public 9-12

1608 4th Ave
Sterling, IL 61081-1378

(815) 625-6800

District: Sterling CUSD 5

SchoolDigger Rank:
372^nd of 697 Illinois High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $12,393

Feeder schools for Sterling High School:

Elementary:	Franklin Elementary School
	Jefferson Elementary School
	Lincoln Elementary School
	Washington Elementary School
Middle:	Challand Middle School

Student/teacher ratio: 18.5

Number of students: 996

Racial breakdown:

White:

51.6%

Hispanic:

38.6%

Two or more races:

6.2%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 51.6%

See top rated Illinois high schools

Compare Sterling High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Sterling High School ranks worse than 53.4% of high schools in Illinois. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 43.1. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Sterling High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: White (51.6%), Hispanic (38.6%), two or more races (6.2%). (See more...)

Compare Details 51.6% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Sterling High School is 18.5. (See more...)

Compare Sterling High School employs 53.7 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Sterling High School is $12,393.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Sterling High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Sterling High School 372^nd of 697 Illinois public high schools. (See Sterling High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Disabled students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Sterling CUSD 5:

SchoolDigger ranks Sterling CUSD 5 509^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Your rating for Sterling High School?

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Rank History for Sterling High School

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Rank History for all students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	59.94	253^rd	586	56.8%
2004	46.74	370^th	592	37.5%
2005	37.56	441^st	590	25.3%
2006	64.96	214^th	596	64.1%
2007	57.08	291^st	612	52.5%
2008	52.98	346^th	624	44.6%
2009	50.32	358^th	632	43.4%
2010	63.03	257^th	643	60.0%
2011	52.49	352^nd	655	46.3%
2012	64.40	244^th	665	63.3%
2013	58.00	325^th	670	51.5%
2014	47.90	389^th	670	41.9%
2015	50.03	265^th	614	56.8%
2016	17.17	552^nd	643	14.2%
2017	40.09	396^th	642	38.3%
2018	40.05	406^th	647	37.2%
2019	47.23	369^th	701	47.4%
2021	53.10	275^th	688	60.0%
2022	46.00	375^th	699	46.4%
2023	50.21	325^th	699	53.5%
2024	43.10	372^nd	697	46.6%

See the entire list of Illinois High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	15.41	146^th	165	11.5%
2022	19.64	131^st	170	22.9%
2023	17.92	137^th	163	16.0%
2024	16.88	151^st	182	17.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	35.21	130^th	205	36.6%
2023	50.54	74^th	217	65.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	41.71	169^th	374	54.8%
2019	56.04	110^th	473	76.7%
2021	48.03	156^th	453	65.6%
2022	36.86	254^th	493	48.5%
2023	39.57	223^rd	476	53.2%
2024	29.24	301^st	482	37.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	45.15	308^th	585	47.4%
2019	47.27	316^th	639	50.5%
2021	50.91	243^rd	611	60.2%
2022	40.10	388^th	626	38.0%
2023	39.24	401^st	644	37.7%
2024	41.05	348^th	639	45.5%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	37.42	402^nd	620	35.2%
2019	52.49	311^th	665	53.2%
2021	40.53	360^th	639	43.7%
2022	44.69	367^th	658	44.2%
2023	39.47	409^th	656	37.7%
2024	34.35	418^th	664	37.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	45.01	189^th	428	55.8%
2024	40.15	186^th	429	56.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	40.70	380^th	619	38.6%
2019	39.39	415^th	675	38.5%
2021	63.15	196^th	653	70.0%
2022	45.20	353^rd	664	46.8%
2023	57.21	247^th	668	63.0%
2024	49.69	296^th	668	55.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	33.60	196^th	291	32.6%
2019	33.60	209^th	317	34.1%
2021	40.65	164^th	317	48.3%
2022	34.61	216^th	335	35.5%
2023	41.68	177^th	333	46.8%
2024	43.19	165^th	336	50.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Sterling High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	36.11	345^th	548	37.0%
2019	47.51	247^th	552	55.3%
2021	52.81	217^th	553	60.8%
2022	45.54	292^nd	560	47.9%
2023	47.98	263^rd	557	52.8%
2024	34.29	336^th	554	39.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Sterling High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	1066	16	4	128	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	1214
1989	977	16	6	209	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	1208
1990	949	23	4	224	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	1200
1991	1112	22	10	56	0	n/a	n/a	0	1200
1992	954	24	14	242	0	n/a	n/a	0	1234
1993	991	23	11	213	1	n/a	n/a	0	1239
1994	996	21	11	191	1	n/a	n/a	0	1220
1995	985	23	10	166	4	n/a	n/a	0	1188
1996	985	23	10	166	4	n/a	n/a	0	1188
1997	982	38	9	194	0	n/a	n/a	0	1223
1998	946	43	9	185	3	n/a	n/a	0	1186
1999	891	40	16	171	3	n/a	n/a	0	1121
2000	860	41	15	193	3	n/a	n/a	0	1112
2001	874	36	16	202	5	n/a	n/a	0	1133
2002	821	43	10	220	6	n/a	n/a	0	1100
2003	821	43	10	220	6	n/a	n/a	0	1100
2004	810	51	11	237	5	n/a	n/a	0	1114
2005	757	44	8	198	4	n/a	n/a	73	1084
2006	803	40	9	209	3	n/a	n/a	77	1141
2007	749	35	4	201	3	n/a	n/a	96	1088
2008	709	33	7	181	2	n/a	n/a	88	1020
2009	720	27	6	196	3	n/a	n/a	86	1038
2010	683	34	3	193	2	n/a	n/a	74	989
2011	645	30	6	300	3	0	25	0	1009
2012	657	31	4	301	2	0	23	0	1018
2013	642	32	5	322	2	0	32	0	1035
2014	647	34	4	305	7	0	34	0	1031
2015	619	33	4	332	4	0	34	0	1026
2016	606	42	8	371	4	0	34	0	1065
2017	578	34	10	353	2	0	29	0	1006
2018	590	35	14	362	1	1	41	0	1044
2019	554	35	13	366	3	0	49	0	1020
2020	528	28	13	364	4	0	42	0	979
2021	581	26	12	380	3	0	54	0	1056
2022	568	25	9	373	3	0	68	0	1046
2023	559	25	12	382	5	0	66	0	1049
2024	514	23	11	384	2	0	62	0	996

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Sterling High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1214	61.4	19.7	n/a
1989	1208	58.6	20.6	n/a
1990	1200	58.4	20.5	n/a
1991	1200	59.0	20.3	n/a
1992	1234	59.2	20.8	n/a
1993	1239	61.0	20.3	n/a
1994	1220	63.0	19.4	n/a
1995	1188	63.0	18.9	n/a
1996	1188	63.0	18.9	n/a
1997	1223	64.9	18.8	n/a
1998	1186	62.0	19.1	n/a
1999	1121	64.0	17.5	n/a
2000	1112	66.0	16.8	n/a
2001	1133	65.0	17.4	n/a
2002	1100	67.0	16.4	26.4
2003	1100	67.0	16.4	26.4
2004	1114	56.0	19.9	30.5
2005	1084	55.6	19.5	36.1
2006	1141	55.6	20.5	30
2007	1088	62.0	17.5	30.6
2008	1020	50.0	20.4	34.7
2009	1038	63.7	16.3	40.4
2010	989	61.6	16.0	43.9
2011	1009	58.2	17.3	42
2012	1018	58.2	17.4	43.1
2013	1035	27.9	37.0	49.4
2014	1031	57.0	18.0	47.8
2015	1026	53.0	19.3	48.4
2016	1065	52.0	20.4	47.2
2017	1006	49.5	20.3	46.7
2018	1044	53.0	19.6	53.4
2019	1020	50.5	20.1	55.9
2020	979	52.0	18.8	45.4
2021	1056	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	1046	50.0	20.9	43.9
2023	1049	55.5	18.9	45.4
2024	996	53.7	18.5	51.6

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Sterling High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1214	61.4	19.7	n/a
1989	1208	58.6	20.6	n/a
1990	1200	58.4	20.5	n/a
1991	1200	59.0	20.3	n/a
1992	1234	59.2	20.8	n/a
1993	1239	61.0	20.3	n/a
1994	1220	63.0	19.4	n/a
1995	1188	63.0	18.9	n/a
1996	1188	63.0	18.9	n/a
1997	1223	64.9	18.8	n/a
1998	1186	62.0	19.1	n/a
1999	1121	64.0	17.5	n/a
2000	1112	66.0	16.8	n/a
2001	1133	65.0	17.4	n/a
2002	1100	67.0	16.4	26.4
2003	1100	67.0	16.4	26.4
2004	1114	56.0	19.9	30.5
2005	1084	55.6	19.5	36.1
2006	1141	55.6	20.5	30
2007	1088	62.0	17.5	30.6
2008	1020	50.0	20.4	34.7
2009	1038	63.7	16.3	40.4
2010	989	61.6	16.0	43.9
2011	1009	58.2	17.3	42
2012	1018	58.2	17.4	43.1
2013	1035	27.9	37.0	49.4
2014	1031	57.0	18.0	47.8
2015	1026	53.0	19.3	48.4
2016	1065	52.0	20.4	47.2
2017	1006	49.5	20.3	46.7
2018	1044	53.0	19.6	53.4
2019	1020	50.5	20.1	55.9
2020	979	52.0	18.8	45.4
2021	1056	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	1046	50.0	20.9	43.9
2023	1049	55.5	18.9	45.4
2024	996	53.7	18.5	51.6

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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