Schools · Elgin

Elgin, IL schools

Elgin’s public schools score well below Illinois’s averages: 20% of students are proficient in reading against 30.7% statewide, and 86% of high schoolers graduate on time against 87.3%. Kids attend one of 15 schools through grade 6, then one of 5 middle schools and South Elgin High School or Larkin High School.

Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.

C+School Grade #280Best schools in IL (of 384)

TownTapestry School GradeNew

C⁺

Elgin’s School Grade: C+

The public schools Elgin’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 65% of Illinois’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the bottom.

CTest scoresCGraduation

Illinois school districts we grade (853)Better than 35%

Lower resultsHigher results

Illinois towns with similar household incomes (1,242)Better than 20%

Towns in Kane County (16)Better than 6%

High confidence. Built on 10,472 tested students and a graduating class of 2,959; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.

How the School Grade works

Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Illinois’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2018.
The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Illinois only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Illinois with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.

School path

Where Elgin kids go to school

Grades PK–6

15 schoolsDepends on your address · see the list School District U-46

Grades 7–8

5 middle schoolsDepends on your address · see the list School District U-46

Grades 9–12

B+South Elgin High School or CLarkin High School Depends on your address School District U-46

Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.

Test scores · 2020–21

Well below the state in reading

Reading (grades PK–12, School District U-46)20%

State average 30.7%

Math (grades PK–12, School District U-46)19%

State average 25.8%

Graduation · class of 2018

86% graduate on time

Graduation rate

86%

IL: 87.3%

Graduating class

2,959

students

The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years.

Districts

The district serving Elgin

School District U-46Grades PK–12 · 55 schools · 34,036 students

$21,472 per studentIL $21,567C+

Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.

Every school

All 38 schools in Elgin

Level

All 38 Preschool 1 Elementary 15 Middle 6 High 6 Other 10

Type

All 38 Public 28 Private 10

Showing 1–30 of 38 schools

Coleman Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 641 students

Highland Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 616 students

Clinton Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 596 students

Fox Meadow Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 577 students

Century Oaks Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 542 students

Hillcrest Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 509 students

Channing Memorial Elem SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 · 491 students

Creekside ElemElementary · Grades PK–6 · 469 students

Harriet Gifford Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 460 students

Washington Elem SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 446 students

Ronald D O NealElementary · Grades K–6 · 445 students

Otter Creek Elem SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 · 437 students

Lowrie Elem SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 · 397 students

McKinley Elem SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 · 395 students

Willard Elem SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 · 370 students

Kenyon Woods Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 873 students

Prairie Knolls Middle SchMiddle · Grades 6–7 · 770 students

Larsen Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 570 students

Abbott Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 551 students

Kimball Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 501 students

Ellis Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 496 students

South Elgin High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 2,665 students

Larkin High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 2,174 students

Central School ProgramHigh · Grades 6–12

DREAM AcademyHigh · Grades 7–12

Dream AcademyHigh · Grades 6–12

New Beginnings Regnl Safe Sch PgmHigh · Grades 6–12

Illinois Park Elem SchoolPrekindergarten · Grades PK

ELGIN ACADEMY

HARVEST CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.