Rock Island Today

The majority of students in Mercer County schools were white in the 2021-22 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 1,255 students attending Mercer County schools, 93.1% were white. multiracial students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 1.4% of Mercer County students.

In the previous school year, white students were the most common group in Mercer County, representing 94.4% of the student body.

Apollo Elementary School and Mercer County High School had the most diverse student body in Mercer County, including multiracial and white.

In the 2021-22 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped 0.2% when compared to the previous year.

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	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrolment
Apollo Elementary School	White	91.9%	310
Mercer County High School	White	94.2%	378
Mercer County Intermediate School	White	92.9%	184
Mercer County Junior High School	White	94%	200
New Boston Elementary School	White	92.3%	183