Macon Reporter

Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 welcomed 661 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a 0.3% decrease from the previous school year.

Ruth M. Schneider Elementary School had the largest enrollment in the district with 264 students.

Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 roughly covers schools within Piatt and De Witt Counties and has a main office in Farmer City.

In 2022, Illinois had 1,925,415 students enrolled in a total of 3,977 schools. There were 130,467 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 three percent between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school year (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

School	Enrollment	Change from Previous Year (%)
Ruth M. Schneider Elementary School	264	-2.6%
Blue Ridge High School	184	0.5%
Blue Ridge Intermediate and Junior High School	213	1.9%