NW Illinois News

Whiteside County schools welcomed 8,253 students in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a decrease of 0.4% from the previous school year.

Whiteside County had the 26th highest enrollment numbers in the state.

According to the data, the student body comprised of 50.8% boys, and 49.2% girls.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 72.1% of its student body.

Within Whiteside County, Sterling High School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 978 students.

In 2022, Illinois had almost 2 million students enrolled in nearly 4,000 schools. There was roughly one teacher for every 15 students, slightly better than the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state's 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 five years.

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