South Central Reporter

Washington County schools welcomed 1,707 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

This is a decrease of 1.6% from the previous school year, when there were 1,735 students enrolled in the county.

Washington County had the 20th lowest enrollment numbers in the state.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 50.8% identified as female, and 49.2% as male.

Most of the students enrolled in the county were white, representing 93.5% of its student body.

Within Washington County, Nashville Grade School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 590 students.

As of the 2023-24 school year, Illinois public schools enrolled approximately 1.85 million students across 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. Between the 2019–20 and 2022–23 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately 1.98 million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 127,000 students or 6.4%. This decline is significantly higher than the typical annual decreases of 0.5% to 1.5% observed in the preceding years, reflecting broader demographic shifts within the state.

School	City	Enrollment
Ashley Community Consolidated School	Ashley	126
Irvington Elementary School	Irvington	62
Nashville Community High School	Nashville	364
Nashville Grade School	Nashville	590
Oakdale Grade School	Oakdale	56
Okawville Grade School	Okawville	280
Okawville Junior/Senior High School	Okawville	229