Deerfield, Bannockburn Public Schools Ranked Top In Lake County

DEERFIELD, IL — Public schools in Deerfield and Bannockburn are the best in Lake County, as Deerfield High School took the top spot among high schools and Bannockburn School ranked the No. 1 elementary or middle school in the county in Chicago Magazine's 2018 rankings. Three elementary schools in Deerfield Public Schools District 109 were also ranked among the top 10 in the county.

The ratings were generated by a combination of income-adjusted test scores, school surveys, per pupil spending, attendance and graduation rate and grouped based on geography, with Chicago, suburban Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties ranked separately.

Bannockburn School, a K-8 school with 175 students, had 71 percent of its students meet or exceed statewide testing standards. The only school in Bannockburn District 106, it spent $12,972 per student – about a third more per pupil – than any of the other county elementary or middle schools ranked in the top 10, according to Chicago Magazine, which noted 100 percent of its students passed Algebra 1 in 2017.

In District 109, Walden Elementary School ranked No. 3, with 84 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards. It had lower survey scores than No. 4-ranked Kipling Elementary School, which had 78 percent of its students at or above state standards. Wilmot Elementary School ranked No. 7, with 81 percent of students meeting or exceeding testing standards and survey results in between the district's other K-5 schools.

Deerfield High School ranked No. 1 in the county, coming out in front of Libertyville and Stevenson high school, which had similar percentages of pupils at or above state testing standards. Chicago Magazine noted the graduation rate at DHS has been at 95 percent or above for the past five years. With about 400 more students, 11 percent fewer students meeting or exceeding SAT testing standards and 8 percent fewer freshmen on track, Highland Park High School ranked No. 5 in Lake County.

The ratings were generated with input from the University of Chicago and other education experts and data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools. They used data from the 2016-17 school year, the most recent available.

Read full rankings from Chicago Magazine