Schools That Rule

Our first rankings of public elementaries and junior highs since 2019 go deeper than ever — and feature some new names at the top.

Illustrations by Visbii

August 26, 2025, 7:13 am

Best Suburban Cook County Elementaries and Junior Highs

			Grades	Enrollment	IAR English attainment %	IAR math attainment %	Chronic absenteeism %
1	Hubbard Woods School	Winnetka	Has its own TV studio, where third and fourth graders produce daily news shows. K–4	335	75	73	4
2	Ivy Hill Elementary School	Arlington Heights	PK–5	534	64	58	13
3	Seventh Avenue School	La Grange	K–6	187	83	68	7
4	Maple School	Northbrook	6–8	429	88	83	10
5	Lincoln Elementary School	River Forest	PK–4	360	82	74	6
6	Sunset Ridge School	Northfield	Spends more per pupil than all but two other elementary schools in the county. 4-8	250	88	77	7
7	McKenzie Elementary School	Wilmette	K–4	455	73	65	4
8	Conrady Junior High School	Hickory Hills	6–8	1,001	86	68	8
9	Glen Oaks Elementary School	Hickory Hills	2–5	638	76	66	10
10	Central Elementary School	Wilmette	K–4	445	69	68	2
11	Arnett C. Lines Elementary School	Barrington	K–5	505	73	63	8
12	Crow Island School	Winnetka	K–4	318	68	78	7
13	Field Park Elementary	Western Springs	K–5	274	68	77	N/A
14	Blythe Park Elementary	Riverside	PK–5	210	73	59	7
15	Spring Avenue Elementary	La Grange	K–6	315	75	68	5
16	Pleasantdale Elementary School	La Grange	PK–4	470	67	69	12
17	Westmoor School	Northbrook	PK–5	401	81	79	6
18	Romona Elementary School	Wilmette	PK–4	496	74	70	6
19	Shabonee School	Northbrook	3–5	432	78	69	8
20	Glen Grove School	Glenview	3–5	427	71	63	7
21	Harper Elementary School	Wilmette	K–4	360	76	60	N/A
22	Avoca West	Glenview	K–5	352	70	65	11
23	Roosevelt Middle School	River Forest	5–8	632	78	67	11
24	Palos East Elementary School	Palos Heights	K–5	704	65	54	11
25	Meadowbrook School	Northbrook	K–5	452	74	83	10
26	Orrington Elementary School	Evanston	More than 30 languages are spoken by the students and staff. K–5	245	59	55	11
27	Willowbrook School	Glenview	PK–5	325	69	77	4
28	Willard Elementary School	River Forest	PK–4	346	66	61	9
29	Greenbriar School	Northbrook	K–5	345	78	68	8
30	Northbrook Junior High School	Northbrook	6–8	644	83	72	12
31	Greenbrier Elementary School	Arlington Heights	PK–5	392	67	59	13
32	Patton Elementary School	Arlington Heights	K–5	381	64	63	9
33	Lions Park Elementary School	Mount Prospect	2–5	483	62	50	10
34	Wescott School	Northbrook	K–5	485	79	83	7
35	Wood Oaks Junior High School	Northbrook	6–8	445	85	77	12
36	Ogden Avenue School	La Grange	K–6	576	72	59	3
37	Old Quarry Middle School	Lemont	6–8	826	76	56	10
38	Forest Elementary School	Des Plaines	An onsite early learning center has a program for children from birth to age 3. PK–5	645	66	48	13
39	Highlands Elementary School	La Grange	PK–4	563	73	73	6
40	Marie Murphy School	Wilmette	PK, 6–8	262	82	66	11
41	Central Elementary School	Riverside	PK–5	360	70	69	14
42	Skokie School	Winnetka	5–6	363	75	68	10
43	Oak Ridge School	Palos Hills	2–5	752	67	61	14
44	West School	Glencoe	3–4	248	67	70	8
45	Field Elementary School	Park Ridge	K–5	628	65	59	9
46	Joseph Sears School	Kenilworth	PK–8	482	75	67	6
47	Central School	Glencoe	5–8	578	77	76	13
48	Palos South Middle School	Palos Park	6–8	691	86	53	16
49	A.F. Ames Elementary School	Riverside	PK–5	458	75	69	8
50	Forest Hills Elementary School	Western Springs	PK–5	300	75	61	6

Best DuPage County Elementaries and Junior Highs

			Grades	Enrollment	IAR English attainment %	IAR math attainment %	Chronic absenteeism %
1	Prospect Elementary School	Clarendon Hills	Maintains its top spot from 2019. K–5	311	82	78	3
2	Westmont Junior High School	Westmont	6–8	292	68	42	6
3	Ellsworth Elementary School	Naperville	K–5	226	87	80	14
4	Jefferson Elementary School	Elmhurst	K–5	343	78	72	5
5	Oak Elementary School	Hinsdale	PK–5	390	89	92	7
6	Madison School	Hinsdale	K–5	353	76	83	3
7	Elm Elementary School	Burr Ridge	K–5	292	87	84	4
8	Walker Elementary School	Clarendon Hills	K–5	297	80	80	4
9	Monroe Elementary School	Hinsdale	K–5	301	82	79	4
10	Norton Creek Elementary School	West Chicago	K–5	486	73	69	11
11	John L. Sipley Elementary	Woodridge	PK–6	386	64	52	14
12	J.T. Manning Elementary School	Westmont	Has a Chicken Coop Club to teach students how to care for these animals. 2-5	385	55	61	11
13	Hawthorne Elementary School	Elmhurst	K–5	571	71	64	4
14	Concord Elementary School	Darien	PK–4	450	52	55	12
15	Elmer H. Franzen Intermediate School	Itasca	3–5	327	69	57	13
16	Westfield Middle School	Bloomingdale	6–8	494	89	57	17
17	Brook Forest Elementary School	Oak Brook	K–5	279	72	72	13
18	Edison Elementary School	Elmhurst	K–5	310	64	68	4
19	Hadley Junior High School	Glen Ellyn	The Second-biggest school in the county, despite serving only three grades. 6-8	1,104	80	62	17
20	Meadow Glens Elementary School	Naperville	K–5	492	86	83	5

Best Lake County Elementaries and Junior Highs

			Grades	Enrollment	IAR English attainment %	IAR math attainment %	Chronic absenteeism %
1	Sheridan Elementary School	Lake Forest	PK–4	262	74	71	8
2	Wayne Thomas Elementary School	Highland Park	K–5	433	73	66	11
3	Prairie Elementary	Buffalo Grove	1–5	449	73	71	10
4	Bannockburn School	Bannockburn	K–8	169	80	66	15
5	Everett Elementary School	Lake Forest	K–4	307	70	80	6
6	North Barrington Elementary School	North Barrington	K–5	432	74	55	9
7	Kildeer Countryside Elementary School	Long Grove	1–5	452	62	69	11
8	Butterfield School	Libertyville	Powered by 75,000 square feet of solar panels on its roof. PK–5	525	60	62	7
9	Sherwood Elementary School	Highland Park	K–5	364	63	59	13
10	Sarah Adams Elementary School	Lake Zurich	K–5	401	74	64	9

Best Kane County Elementaries and Junior Highs

			Grades	Enrollment	IAR English attainment %	IAR math attainment %	Chronic absenteeism %
1	Fabyan Elementary School	Geneva	The highest-scoring school in the county for IAR math growth. K–5	235	79	57	9
2	Ferson Creek Elementary School	St. Charles	PK–5	580	74	71	14
3	Bell-Graham Elementary School	St. Charles	K–5	472	74	67	15
4	C.I. Johnson Elementary School	Aurora	3–5	271	40	43	4
5	Western Avenue Elementary School	Geneva	K–5	341	55	32	10
6	Corron Elementary School	South Elgin	K–5	525	66	62	18
7	Howard B. Thomas Grade School	Burlington	PK–5	639	54	34	11
8	Thompson Middle School	St. Charles	6–8	1,275	76	57	21
9	Hoover-Wood Elementary School	Batavia	K–5	343	50	57	10
10	Grace McWayne Elementary School	Batavia	K–5	348	46	59	6

Best McHenry County Elementaries and Junior Highs

			Grades	Enrollment	IAR English attainment %	IAR math attainment %	Chronic absenteeism %
1	Eastview Elementary School	Algonquin	Up from No. 10 in 2019. PK–5	422	65	60	13
2	Creekside Middle School	Woodstock	5–8	748	72	40	24
3	Prairie Grove Elementary School	Crystal Lake	PK–4	528	54	52	16
4	Neubert Elementary School	Algonquin	K–5	471	50	55	9
5	Alden-Hebron Middle School	Hebron	The smallest school in all six counties to make our rankings. 6-8	73	55	39	19
6	Katherine Leggee Elementary School	Huntley	K–5	891	57	49	15
7	Riley School	Marengo	K–8	240	56	49	11
8	Nippersink Middle School	Richmond	6–8	392	61	38	17
9	Alden-Hebron Elementary School	Hebron	PK–5	232	55	26	N/A
10	Conley Elementary School	Algonquin	3–5	567	51	45	15

Best Will County Elementaries and Junior Highs

			Grades	Enrollment	IAR English attainment %	IAR math attainment %	Chronic absenteeism %
1	Homer Junior High School	Homer Glen	7–8	795	79	56	15
2	Oak Prairie Junior High School	Homer Glen	6–8	451	82	36	N/A
3	Kendall Elementary School	Naperville	K–5	582	68	69	9
4	Graham Elementary School	Naperville	K–5	308	78	69	12
5	Hickory Creek Middle School	Frankfort	More students met or exceeded state English standards here than anywhere else in the suburbs. 6-8	945	92	74	12
6	Gregory Middle School	Naperville	6–8	823	80	66	9
7	Shorewood Elementary School	Shorewood	K–4	326	44	53	10
8	Jane Addams Middle School	Bolingbrook	6–8	532	65	36	18
9	Scullen Middle School	Naperville	6–8	961	80	63	13
10	Anna McDonald School	Manhattan	2–3	585	57	47	12

How We Ranked the Schools

The performance measures were based on data obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education for the 2023–24 school year, the most recent available. Calculations were done by the research nonprofit RTI International, based on weighting instructions provided by Chicago. Not all the measures used appear in the rankings tables.

The Measures We Used

IAR attainment is the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness exams for ELA (English language arts) and math.
IAR growth is the school’s average student growth percentile, which compares the year-over-year change by individual students on the IAR exams with that of comparable students in the state.
Chronic absenteeism is the percentage of students who missed 10 percent or more of school days.
5Essentials is a teacher and student survey that assesses five key aspects of a school’s learning environment.
Spending per pupil is the instructional expenditure, reported by the district.

How We Weighted the Measures

IAR English attainment: 15%
IAR English growth: 22.5%
IAR math attainment: 15%
IAR math growth: 22.5%
Chronic absenteeism: 15%
For Chicago schools
5Essentials: 10%
For suburban schools
Spending per pupil: 10%

NOTE: In cases where a school is missing a metric, more weight was distributed to the remaining measures.

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