NW Illinois News

Sterling High School had the highest enrollment among Whiteside County schools, welcoming 978 students during the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.

Out of all the students welcomed in the 2021-22 school year, 52.6% of them were boys, and 47.4% were girls.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 53.7% of the student body at Sterling High School.

Among the 28 schools in Whiteside County, Challand Middle School ranked second in enrollment with 714 students, while Rock Falls Township High School welcomed 558 students to be ranked third in the 2021-22 school year.

Sterling High School is a part of Sterling Community Unit School District 5, which generally encompasses schools within Whiteside County with its main office in Sterling.

In the previous school year, Sterling High School had the highest number of students among Whiteside County schools.

In the 2021-22 school year, Illinois had roughly 1.9 million students enrolled across approximately schools. There were more than 130,000 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting demographic changes. Combined public and private K-12 enrollment dropped 3% between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

School name	City	Total Enrolment
Sterling High School	Sterling	978
Challand Middle School	Sterling	714
Rock Falls Township High School	Rock Falls	558
Jefferson Elementary School	Sterling	418
Washington Elementary School	Sterling	397
Fulton Elementary School	Fulton	383
Franklin Elementary School	Sterling	363
Lincoln Elementary School	Sterling	291
Morrison High School	Morrison	286
Fulton High School	Fulton	283
Rock Falls Middle School	Rock Falls	255
Erie Elementary School	Erie	246
Dillon Elementary School	Rock Falls	240
East Coloma - Nelson Elementary School	Rock Falls	231
Morrison Junior High School	Morrison	231
Northside School	Morrison	229
Merrill Elementary School	Rock Falls	227
Montmorency School	Rock Falls	223
Prophetstown Elementary School	Prophetstown	215
River Bend Middle School	Fulton	207
Prophetstown High School	Prophetstown	199
Southside School	Morrison	189
Erie High School	Erie	188
Erie Middle School	Erie	184
Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Middle School	Prophetstown	181
Tampico Elementary School	Tampico	159
Riverdale Preschool Center	Rock Falls	133
Early Step Pre-School	Fulton	45